Late October drops a thin gold light down Ball Ground's brick storefronts, and every lawn in town starts asking for a different kind of attention. Elrod Landscaping handles that turn — the last close cuts of the season, leaves cleared off the grass, beds and borders blown down to bare edges. The foothill yards here run at angles, terraced against the clay, and cutting them well takes a feel for where a mower wants to slide. Done right, a hillside lawn looks deliberate instead of merely mowed. Through the growing months it is the same care on a weekly clock, so the place never gets ahead of anyone.