April in Mahopac is meltwater and mud, brooks running hard down toward the old mill grounds, everything brown and about to turn. That is when J & D Landscaping And Masonry Inc. starts opening yards back up: winter debris hauled off, beds cut in and mulched, the first mow of the year that changes how a whole street looks. From there it is weekly mowing, string trimming and hedge work straight through to leaf season. Putnam County soil is thin over rock and the summers can go dry, so the work is as much judgment as it is machinery. Every yard finished is a small argument that spring got here.