You hear the Black River in Cavendish before you see it — the gorge below the village keeps a steady sound going all summer long. Good Earth Land Design works the lawns above it, in Proctorsville and out along Route 131: weekly mowing, trimming, edging, mulch in the beds, and the cleanups that open and close the season. On a hot afternoon the cut grass smells like the hayfields upstream. Autumn arrives early in this valley and the leaves come down nearly at once, so clearing them before the first hard freeze is half of October's work. Done right, a yard here sits easy against the hills standing behind it.