April along the Clinton River Trail smells like thawed ground, and the old rail grade through Pontiac fills with walkers the week the frost finally lets go. C&K Premium Landscaping Service LLC starts its season about then — the first cut of the year, the rake through matted grass, the beds cleared of a winter's worth of oak litter. From there it settles into mowing on schedule, string trimming around fence posts and hydrants, and edges cut back to the concrete where turf has crept over. Summer in this county arrives humid and fast, and grass can put on an inch overnight. The reward is the Friday look: a yard squared up, walks blown clean, nothing left behind but the smell of it.