They call Newton the Garden City for a reason, and homeowners here take that seriously. Across the villages, from Newton Centre and Waban to Auburndale and Nonantum, the lots are bigger than what you find closer to the city and the landscapes are established, sometimes a century old. That creates a specific set of problems. Mature specimen trees mean root competition and deep shade in yards that were sunny when the grass went in. The land rolls, so half of Newton is on some kind of slope, and slopes shed water instead of soaking it up, which is why the crown of the hill browns out in July while the bottom of the yard stays soggy. Newton's soil is mostly heavy and clay-based under the topsoil, so it compacts hard and drains slowly. And a lot of Newton properties have irrigation systems that were installed for a landscape that no longer exists, watering beds that were removed and missing the lawn that replaced them.