South of Portage the streets run out into the Gourdneck State Game Area, and in April that edge of town gets loud with frogs the moment the ice gives up. K Vlietstra Landscape Services LLC starts its year about then — cleanups first, the winter's wreckage cleared out of the beds, then mowing and trimming on a cadence that lasts until the maples turn. The properties out here sit half in neighborhood and half in field, so a tidy edge matters more, not less; it is the line that says where the keeping-up begins. Once the season reverses, the work becomes plowing, shoveling and salting, drives opened before anyone has to think about it. Portage lives outdoors on both ends of the year, and the yard should be ready for both.