By the middle of August the lawns around Bedford Hills have been tested — three weeks without real rain, heat sitting in the low ground, and every thin spot in the turf telling on itself. M C Palotta Lawn Irrigation works those yards through the hard part of summer, mowing high so the roots stay shaded and keeping the edges sharp when the growth slows down. Beds get weeded and topped off, shrubs trimmed back from the walks, clippings cleared instead of left to mat. The reward comes at dusk, when the heat finally lifts off the grass and a well-kept lawn goes deep green in the last hour of light. Come autumn the leaves get cleared and the whole property is put down for the winter.