October in Boxborough smells like apples and cold ground, and the lawns take one last slow cut before the light gives out. Tom's Yard Care keeps yards around Patch Hill and the town common on that schedule — mowing straight through the season, trimming and edging, mulch in the spring, and the leaf work a town this wooded absolutely requires. Under mature trees, grass needs overseeding and feeding more than it needs anything clever. Cleanups in April open things up; cleanups in November put them to bed. A raked, mown yard with the woods going bare behind it is a good way to finish a year.