By the middle of August the big trees along Sterling's older avenues throw shade halfway across the front yards, and the grass beneath them grows on a different clock than the strip out by the street. S&R Lawn & Tree Service mows and trims with that in mind — height set so the sunny ground does not scorch and the shaded ground does not thin. Trimming around trunks, beds and fence lines is where a yard either looks finished or does not. Late-summer afternoons here run long and loud with cicadas, and there is something good about leaving a lawn cut clean into all that heat. When autumn comes, the same properties get their leaves cleared before the grass goes under.