The Nashua runs clear through Fitchburg now, and in April it carries the hills down with it — snowmelt off Ashburnham, loud and brown under the bridges. Gleason Landscaping and Tree Transplanting starts its year about then, when lawns come out of winter matted and gray and want waking up. Spring raking, the first cut of the season, and after that mowing and trimming held to a steady rhythm until frost. There is a particular pleasure in that first pass across a rough spring lawn, watching the stripe appear behind you. By May the yards near the river look like they have been let in on something.