East of Albany the land begins to lift, and West Sand Lake sits right where valley farmland gives way to the wooded shelf of the Rensselaer Plateau. September is the good stretch here — cool mornings, heavy dew, grass growing as if to make up for everything August took. McCartin Landscaping mows, trims and edges through that whole run, keeping yards even from the first cut of spring to the last of the fall. Ground on this side of the county is stony and rolling, so lawns get worked with the slope rather than against it. Drive back down the road afterward and a place reads finished: level color, sharp borders, leaves cleared off the walk.