Anagrammatically speaking 4

Question

Fill in the blanks of each sentence below with words that are anagrams of each other. In each pair of sentences, solve the first sentence, change one letter of an answer-word from that sentence, and shuffle it to form the answer-words for the second sentence. The answer-words in all sentences are the same length. Other than that, there is no correlation between answer-words from one sentence-pair to the next. All resulting sentences must make sense, and must use answer-words that are legal in Scrabble.

Similar earlier puzzles are here:
Anagrammatically speaking 3
Anagrammatically speaking 2
Anagrammatically speaking

Pair 1:

After improving the ______, Darlene Leander had no trouble growing ______ plants.
The ______ was tricky, so the hikers were ______ carefully.

Pair 2:

It was a relaxing night as we ______ around the sacred cedars, and the ______ we walked was two miles per hour.
As the manager stuck coasters under the table legs to make them ______, the wariest waiters watched and wondered, “Is this the ______ we will ever be?”

Pair 3:

While the chauffeur ______ his steps to the limo, the landscapers are weeding the ______, and the ______ are setting the tables.
The campus tour guide reveals several ______ of hidden playing fields to the prospective students, and later he warns them that the ______ are always looking for ______.

Answer 1

I’m not sure which you’ll accept, because all three of us got one right... but here’s the compiled answer. Feel free to turn this into a community wiki and accept if that’s best (I don’t think I can do it on mobile):

Pair 1 (@El-Guest):

After improving the DRAINAGE, Darlene Leander had no trouble growing GARDENIA plants.

The GRADIENT was tricky, so the hikers were TREADING carefully.

Pair 2 (@Lanny Strack):

It was a relaxing night as we TRAIPSED around the sacred cedars, and the RAPIDEST we walked was two miles per hour.

As the manager stuck coasters under the table legs to make them STEADIER, the wariest waiters watched and wondered, “Is this the READIEST we will ever be?”

Pair 3 (@Rand al’Thor):

While the chauffeur RETRACES his steps to the limo, the landscapers are weeding the TERRACES, and the CATERERS are setting the tables.

The campus tour guide reveals several HECTARES of hidden playing fields to the prospective students, and later he warns them that the TEACHERS are always looking for CHEATERS.

PS: props for the anagrams Darlene Leander, sacred cedars, wariest waiters, and the super-nice reveals several.

Answer 2

Pair 2:

It was a relaxing night as we TRAIPSED around the sacred cedars, and the RAPIDEST we walked was two miles per hour.
As the manager stuck coasters under the table legs to make them STEADIER, the wariest waiters watched and wondered, “Is this the READIEST we will ever be?”

Answer 3

Pair 2 (not sure about the first of these):

It was a relaxing night as we STEAL around the sacred cedars, and the LEAST we walked was two miles per hour.

As the manager stuck coasters under the table legs to make them STABLE, the wariest waiters watched and wondered, “Is this the ABLEST we will ever be?”

Pair 3:

While the chauffeur RETRACES his steps to the limo, the landscapers are weeding the TERRACES, and the CATERERS are setting the tables.

The campus tour guide reveals several HECTARES of hidden playing fields to the prospective students, and later he warns them that the TEACHERS are always looking for CHEATERS.