October along the river between Lyons and Muir goes copper, then bare, and for a few weeks every yard in the county sits under an inch of maple and oak. J&M lawn and tree service works that stretch — leaves gathered and hauled, lawns given their last cuts as the growth finally eases off. Earlier in the year it is the standard rotation: mowing, edging and string trimming, week after week from the first warm run onward. Spring cleanups come at the other end of the cold, when the turf is matted flat and needs opening back up. Handing a place over clean at the end of October is the best part of the fall.