Out past Ovid the fields open all the way to the horizon and the Maple River threads its slow way through Clinton County farmland. Mitten Roots Greenscape works the lawns in town and along the section roads — mowing, string trimming, edging beside walks and drives, and cleanups at either end of the growing season. Spring arrives wet here, black soil and standing water in the low spots, and grass cut too early tears rather than cuts; timing is half the job. The other half is the finish — an even height across the front, a defined line at the flower bed, the clippings off the sidewalk. In a town this size, a well-kept yard is a kind of good manners.