Royston stands at a corner where Franklin, Hart and Madison counties meet, so a short morning's driving can cross three county lines. Winter strips the pecans bare and lays frost along the pasture edges, and the yard work changes with it — leaves off the lawn, storm-fall and sticks gathered, beds cleared down to open ground. When the grass wakes in March it comes back fast, and then it is weekly mowing, trimming to the fence and the foundation, and an edge cut along the drive. Northeast Georgia hands a lawn a real four seasons, and each one asks for something different. The reward arrives in April, when a place that was tidied all winter greens up even and clean.