October in this corner of Macomb County smells like apples — the orchards up around Romeo and Armada are running, and the wind carries it out over Ray Township. Tom's landscaping is deep in leaves by then: the last mows of the year, leaf cleanup off the lawns and out of the beds, the walks cleared, everything edged one final time before the ground hardens. Earlier in the year it is the steady version of the same care — mowing on a weekly turn, trimming the lines a mower cannot hold, keeping the grass at a height that suits the month. A yard that goes into November clear of leaf mat comes out of March in far better shape. That is the plain argument for doing it right.