January is the county's quiet month: bare hardwood standing on the ridges, and only hemlock, pine and holly still holding color against all that gray. Evergreen Lawnscapes LLC uses the stretch for the unglamorous work around Dahlonega — dormant cleanups, leaf and limb removal, beds re-edged and mulched, shrubs tidied while their shape is easy to read. When the grass wakes again the mowing, trimming and blow-off routes start up and run clear to the end of the year. Properties that get attention in the cold months are the ones that look effortless in May. That is the arithmetic of the whole trade, and it holds up every time.