The Grove

About The Grove

Late September light comes sideways through the old maples in Newport and makes the lawns underneath look better than they have any right to. The Grove works that ground: mowing and trimming through the season, edging the walks and drives, mulching in around trees and beds, then taking the leaves out when the canopy finally lets go. Grass under big trees is a negotiation — thinner, hungrier, in shade by three in the afternoon — and it repays attention. Spring brings its own cleanup, the winter wreckage of twigs and matted leaf cleared off before the first cut of the year. A shaded yard kept well feels like a room out in the open air.