April in this valley gives up its frost grudgingly — the sky warms weeks before the ground does, and half the yards around Sussex have limestone ledges surfacing where the winter shoved things around. Ground Effex Landscaping, LLC opens the season on that ground: the first cut of the year, the edges recut where they blurred, and the grit and gravel of a hard winter raked out of the turf. From there it settles into mowing, trimming and edge work on a regular return, all the way through to the fall cleanups. Thin soil over rock makes for lawns that need reading rather than routine, and reading them is most of the skill. The reward is a green sweep in May over ground that looked hopeless in March.