Late afternoon on the older streets of LaGrange, the light comes down through water oaks in long slanted bars and every yard is half shade, half gold. Ol oak properties keeps lawns under those wide canopies — mowing around the surface roots, cutting the edge clean along the walk, trimming what a deck cannot reach. Come October the leaves begin their slow drift and the work turns to raking, blowing and hauling until the grass can breathe again. There is a plain satisfaction in a yard cleared of leaf litter with its borders drawn sharp against the drive. Big trees are what make a town feel settled; keeping the ground beneath them neat is the other half of that picture.