The wooded bluffs above Collinsville turn all at once in late October — oak going rust, hickory going yellow — and every one of those leaves eventually lands in somebody's yard. That season is its own kind of outdoor work: raking beds out, clearing the lawn before it smothers, hauling the piles off so the grass goes into winter breathing. The rest of the year runs on mowing, trimming, bed care and the mulch that keeps roots cool once the humidity settles over the valley. The calendar that matters is the one the trees keep, not the one on the wall. Come spring those beds are already clean and ready, which is exactly why the fall work is worth doing.