The hills around La Cienega are piñon and juniper, trees that grow slowly and hold on hard, and there is a lesson in that for anything green in this country. VerdeRoots Landscaping & Trees LLC keeps lawns on the same principle — cut at a height that protects the roots, cut often enough that the plant is never shocked, edges kept crisp so grass stops where the gravel begins. In late February the light starts lasting longer, the ground softens, and the first cleanups get underway: winter litter out, beds cleared, the lawn opened to the sun. Then comes the mowing season, straight through the summer rains and into the gold weeks of October. It adds up to a full year of small attentions, and the yards show it.