By mid-October the bur oaks around Richmond let go all at once, and a lawn that was tidy on Friday is buried by Sunday afternoon. Royal Gardens Landscaping works the tail of the growing season — the last cuts taken a notch lower, leaves pulled off the turf and out of the beds, edges recut, the yard put away neatly before the cold sets in. There is a smell to that week, wet leaves and cold soil, that tells you the year has turned. Done properly, it is what lets the grass come back green in April instead of matted and gray. A yard closed out well in autumn is a gift to its own spring.