By late October the fields around Alaiedon are stubble and dust, the combines working past dark, and every maple windbreak lets go at once. Veracruz Landscaping LLC spends those weeks in the leaves — raked out of the fence corners, pulled from the beds, blown off the drive and hauled away before snow packs them into the lawn. The rest of the year it is mowing on a steady turn, borders trimmed in, mulch laid fresh in spring, shrubs kept in bounds. It is plain work and it shows plainly: a yard that stays neat while the country around it goes brown. Nights come early then, and a finished lawn under that low light is a good thing to drive past.