Upton sits high in the Blackstone watershed, where the West River is still small enough to step across and a single property can run from open sun into deep oak shade. Plowman Landscaping works that variety all season — mowing, string trimming, edging along the walks and drives, cleanups in spring and again after the leaves come down. Late September is the best of it: cool mornings off Pratt Pond, the state forest turning color, grass growing slow and thick and taking a stripe beautifully. Finishing a yard on an afternoon like that is close to the reason anyone does this at all. Then the gates go up and the truck heads for the next street.