September is the month the ground around here starts forgiving you: nights cool off, the soil softens after a rain, and roots begin reaching again. Top Dressing works that window hard — core aeration, top dressing with soil and compost, overseeding, fertilization and the below-grade work that decides what next summer's lawn is capable of. Pulling plugs from a compacted Alpharetta yard and watching them melt back in over the following week is the least glamorous and most useful thing in this whole trade. Everything visible above the ground is really a report on what happened beneath it. Milton, Roswell, Johns Creek and Cumming are all on the autumn schedule.