April in Sparta is mud and meltwater, the headwaters of the Wallkill running full while the lawns come out of the cold flattened and gray. Payne Landscaping begins there, with the cleanup that makes everything afterward possible, raking off the mat of leaf and sand, opening the turf back to light, taking the first cut once the ground will hold a wheel. Through summer it is mowing and trimming on rhythm, edging where lawn meets stone and drive, staying ahead of highland grass that grows hard in a wet June. Autumn drops the ridge's leaves all at once, and the season closes with them gathered and gone. The good part is watching a beaten-down spring lawn come back thick by the end of May.