By early October the ground under an Acworth lawn has spent four months being walked on, mowed over and baked, and Cobb County soil answers that treatment by turning to brick. Alexis Aeration & Outdoor Care pulls cores out of it — small dark plugs scattered over the grass like a code the roots can read — then follows with the mowing, edging and trimming that hold the yard together the rest of the year. It is unglamorous work with an obvious payoff: rain sinks in instead of running off toward the street, and the color that returns in November feels earned. There is outdoor cleanup in the mix too, the bed edges and leaf piles nobody thinks about until they are gone. Autumn arrives here slowly, one cool morning at a time, and a lawn that has been opened up meets it ready.