Every May the alewives crowd the fish ladder at Damariscotta Mills, and Newcastle knows the growing season has arrived by the noise of the gulls above it. Hooked On Landscaping starts its year about then, mowing, trimming, and pulling a winter's worth of sand and leaf litter off the lawns along the river. Yards here run down toward tidewater and Great Salt Bay, with brick walks, old shade trees, and slopes that will not tolerate a careless pass. Cut and edged properly, a Newcastle lawn sets off the houses the way it ought to. The work carries on until the last leaves are down and the ground goes hard.