Southern Illinois is hill country that only pretends to be prairie — oak and hickory ridges, creek bottoms, horizons that fold instead of running flat. Southern Illinois Lawnscapes tends the yards tucked into that landscape, mowing and edging, trimming fence lines, and hauling off the leaf drop that comes down heavy from the hardwoods in November. Then the cold snaps arrive quick and mean, glazing steep drives, and the work turns to plowing, shoveling and ice control on ground that never sits level. A hillside drive opened down to the gravel is worth a great deal on a Monday morning down here. Spring reaches these hollows early, and the mowing season starts while much of the state is still frozen.