Ardmore, walks out of level.

Landscaping in Ardmore is dense-lot work. The town runs along Lancaster Avenue, with Suburban Square and the train station near its center, and the housing steps down from there: twins and rowhomes on the streets closest to the avenue, then larger stone and stucco singles as you move toward Haverford and Wynnewood. Lots are narrow, front setbacks are short, street trees line most blocks, and a good share of properties are reached from a rear alley or a shared drive rather than a driveway of their own.

That density sets the problems. There is often no way to bring a machine into a back yard, so excavation and stone move by wheelbarrow down a side yard a few feet wide, and material is staged on the street and cleared the same day. Street tree roots run under front lawns and lift the flagstone and brick walks that were set on sand decades ago. Houses close together throw shade for most of the day, so turf thins on the north side. And there is nowhere for roof and patio water to go except toward a neighbor, so grading and drainage get settled before anything else is drawn.

Front walks, steps and short garden walls come up more than big patios, because that is where the grade change is and where the old brick has moved. Landscape design on these lots starts with what fits: back yards get patios sized to the space, with a hedge or a run of evergreens for screening, since the neighbor’s windows are close. Beds are renovated rather than started over. Mowing is a small share of a maintenance visit. Most of the time goes to edging, trimming around fences and porches, and blowing down walks. Fall cleanup is heavy for the lot size, because the street trees drop on all of them.