The cottonwoods at City Park let go all at once in late October, and by the next morning half the lawns on that side of Fort Collins have gone gold and ankle-deep. Yard Elves Landscaping tends to arrive the way the name suggests, quietly, and then the yard is simply done. Through the growing months that means mowing, trimming and cleanups; once the cold arrives it means shoveled walks, cleared drives and plowed lots, often finished before the household is awake. Sheldon Lake freezes at its edges first, and that is about when the phone starts ringing for snow. Two kinds of work, one habit: leave the property in better shape than the light found it.