On an August afternoon the heat stacks up over the pines west of Lakewood and a thunderhead climbs all day until it finally breaks around five. Figueroa Landscaping works ahead of that clock — mowing and trimming through the morning, edging and blowing the walks clear, done before the first fat drops hit a driveway. Rain like that makes the grass jump, so the schedule stays tight and nobody's lawn gets ahead of the mower. Bed lines get redefined, borders trimmed back, and whatever comes off a yard leaves with the truck. By evening the storm has pushed out over the ocean and a whole street looks freshly combed.