Mercer is hayfields and hardwood, the Sandy River drifting east toward the Kennebec, and a bog full of birdsong at the edge of town. Ray's Excavation & Landscaping keeps the mown ground in order out here — lawns cut, trim work around barns and stone walls, spring and fall cleanups that clear away whatever the wind left behind. Somerset County grass grows hard in June and slow in August, and reading that difference is most of the job. There is a plain pleasure in standing back from a farmhouse yard with the lines all running the same way and the field beginning exactly where you decided it should. Lawn care for Mercer and the villages around it.