The hills in Elba Township are glacier work, and the oak woodlots standing on them turn all at once in late September. That is when Craton LawnCare's season shifts from cutting to hauling, getting leaves off the turf before the first hard frost mats them into the crown of the grass. Through the growing months the rhythm is simpler: mow, trim, edge, blow the drives clean, move on to the next one. Yards here run big and irregular, full of slopes and old stumps and one maple the whole family is attached to, so the work is fitted to the ground instead of forced onto it. By November the grass is short, the beds are clear, and the place looks tended straight through to the thaw.