There's an old Southern habit of judging a house by its front yard, and plenty of Austin porches keep it alive: a swing, a glass of iced tea sweating on the rail, a magnolia shading the steps. Southern Landscape tends the part of that picture that faces the street, with the grass mowed smooth from porch to curb, the front walk edged and the steps swept free of clippings. On a May morning, with a mockingbird running through every song it knows from the top of a utility pole, a freshly cut lawn makes the whole house look like it's expecting company. Good manners in Texas include a yard that says welcome before anyone knocks. That is the work, and the result is a front yard any neighbor would be glad to walk past.