Mableton grows loblolly and longleaf the way other places grow fence posts, and every autumn the needles come down in drifts that belong in the beds, not on the drive. Pine Straw Depot works that season: fresh straw laid thick around the foundations, under the crape myrtles, out along the tree rings, until a yard looks bedded down for winter. The straw does honest work too, holding the red clay in place when a Georgia downpour comes off the ridge. Alongside it the lawn gets mowed, edged and trimmed, and the beds get cleared before anything new goes on top. A property finished on a cool October afternoon — clean turf, dark straw, sharp borders — is a good thing to stand and look at.