Nothing looks worse than a Michigan lawn in the second week of March, matted and gray and half-thawed, sanded down from a winter of salt trucks. That is the starting line. The first visit of the season is really a rescue: raking the mat out, pulling winter grit off the beds, one low cut to wake the grass, and the border along the walk brought back into view. After that it settles into a steady schedule of weekly mowing, string trimming, shrub work, mulch and leaf removal once the year turns around again. Between Eight Mile and Ten Mile Road, a lawn that comes out of winter well tends to stay ahead the rest of the summer.