Out at Gaston the Roanoke River country runs green and low, pines on the rise and the interstate humming somewhere behind the trees. Gainey Lawn Care keeps yards through Northampton County's long warm season — mowing, trimming, edging, and sweeping the clippings off the drive before the truck moves on. Riverside air holds the humidity, and the grass keeps its ambitions well into October. Hedges get shaped, beds get mulched, leaves get cleared once the season finally gives up. There is a plain kind of pride in a yard where the lines are straight and nothing has been allowed to run wild.