East of the village the ground softens into Pigeon Swamp, a stand of cedar and red maple that has never been in a hurry, and autumn arrives out there before it arrives on the lawns. Kane's Lawn Maintenance and Snow Control follows that order — leaves off the turf in November, beds tidied, the grass taken down to its winter height. Then January, when a storm slides over Middlesex County and the work moves to plowing, walkway clearing and de-icing before the school buses run. Come May the mowing and edging start again, week over week, until the borders are as definite as a fence line. It is unglamorous, and it is the difference between a property that looks tended and one that only looks green.