Taylor Lawn and Tree

About Taylor Lawn and Tree

Old West Lawrence is a neighborhood of tall houses and taller trees — bur oaks and hackberries that were already big before the porches went up. Taylor Lawn and Tree spends October underneath them, raking and blowing and hauling, because leaves in that part of town do not so much fall as pile into drifts against the iron fences. The rest of the year is mowing on shaded ground, trimming around trunks and stone edging, and shaping the shrubs that crowd the front walks. A shade lawn is its own puzzle: thin grass, surface roots, dappled light, a mower that has to be gentle about all of it. When the last load goes out and the turf shows again, the whole block looks lighter.