Late August in Madison Heights holds its heat until almost nine, and the last hour of daylight lays shadows the whole width of a yard. Mantis Lawn and Landscape spends that hour on details: the edge along a front walk cut to a single line, trimming around fence posts and the base of every tree, pavement cleared of clippings. Mowing on a set schedule keeps the turf even through dry stretches and the thunderstorms that come barreling over the mile roads. By November the work shifts to cleanups, with leaves off the beds before the first hard freeze. Good yards are made in the small passes nobody ever photographs.