October arrives slowly in Johns Creek. The hardwoods along Autrey Mill turn first, then the maples in the older yards off Medlock Bridge, and for a few weeks the ground carries more color than the branches do. Orchard Landscaping mows straight through that stretch, keeping the bermuda even as it fades toward straw, and clearing leaves before they mat down and smother what is underneath. Trimming close around mailboxes, fence posts and the base of every pine; edging that holds a true line all the way across a front walk. The work is plain and it shows plainly — a lawn that reads cared-for from the road, in a town whose roads curve past a great many of them. Winter here is short and gray and the grass waits it out, and then spring comes early and the mowing starts again.