October in Hayes turns the hardwood lots to rust and copper almost overnight, and then one good wind puts all of it down on the grass. That is the busy stretch for Nelson lawn care services — raking and hauling leaves, cutting the lawn short for the last time, clearing beds and fence lines before the ground goes hard for the winter. A yard raked back to green in November, with everything around it bare, is worth the long afternoons it takes. The rest of the year the schedule is plain and steady: weekly mowing, trimming, the edges kept sharp. Small township, plenty of yards, one at a time.