Melrose is a town of deep porches and old maples, and around Ell Pond the houses stand close enough that every lawn is on display. J F Stanton Landscaping Inc keeps them cut and edged — mowing weekly, trimming along fences and granite steps, mulching and weeding beds, feeding and overseeding, with cleanups in spring and fall and the leaves carted away rather than left to smother the grass. Winter turns the same streets into plow routes: driveways opened, front walks and stairs shoveled, salt and sand across the brick and bluestone that slick over faster than anything else. Narrow lots reward someone who already knows where the snow can go. Melrose leads the list, with the towns just beyond the Fells and the Wakefield line after it.