2023: Year-in-Review: Part 1

Hi, I’m back, as promised, with the first part of an update on 2023

I’ve been looking back at pictures of our work throughout last year, and to say that 2023 passed in a bit of a whirlwind for DEGS, would be an understatement!

Many of you would know that we were honouring contracts in Surrey until the end of the season, and with an abundance of work booked in West and North Norfolk, it was all go, and we were incredibly busy.

In this two-part blog, I’ve put together a brief snapshot of some of our work, which ranged from general maintenance, to fencing, to laying shingle; we even repaired a lawn that had been invaded by foraging pigs!

I’ll start with the pig-attacked garden in Gayton…

Lawn Repair

One February morning last year I answered the phone to an elderly gentleman, who was telling me that pigs had escaped from a neighbouring farm. I thought he was trying to reach the farmer to ask him to collect his pigs, and had called the wrong number by mistake. However, it transpired that he did want to speak to DEGS; the pigs had been rounded up and were now safely back in their field, and he needed us to repair the lawn the pigs had decimated. We were only too willing to help, so went to take a look. The lawn had been ruined; the young pigs had been after food so had been rooting in the ground, looking for grubs and tubers. The garden was a dreadful mess.

After agreeing a price, we ordered grass seed and fresh topsoil, ready for the DEGS magic to be worked. When Dave returned, he raked level the damaged lumpy earth, tamped it all down, top-dressed it with topsoil, then he liberally sowed grass seed and left it to do its thing. A few weeks later the gentleman rang to tell us the seed had germinated and everywhere was now green and lush. He thanked DEGS profusely for making such a good job of his lawn.

This week, approximately one year on from our first visit to this garden, we paid the gentleman a visit to ask if we could take some ‘after’ photos. He was delighted to see us and remarked that our work was “first class.”

From the photos below, you can see the damage the pigs caused, and how Dave returned the lawn to an abundance of green and healthy growth.

Client’s lawn after hungry pigs had rooted through it

Lawn, raked level and top-dressed with fresh topsoil………… then sown with grass seed

Beautiful, lush, new lawn

Tree Felling

We work in partnership with a fantastic tree surgeon, who carries out some of our tree work, with excellent results. This large conifer was approximately 50ft tall and felled to hedge level, resulting in letting so much more light into the garden. Whilst working on this one, the Norfolk wind picked up, but this didn’t phase the team who were using all the correct safety equipment and by mid-afternoon the felling was complete and everything cleared up. The neighbouring farmer who had been worried about damage to his land and equipment could not fault the way the work was carried out.

Large conifer felling - before…

Large conifer felling - during…

After felling large conifer to hedge level

Fencing

In May we were approached by a local builder to assist with the boundary fencing surrounding the dwelling he and his team were building in Sporle. The weather was just starting to warm up and we were kept company by a cute blackbird who spotted we were digging holes, so he loitered to catch the juicy worms that we uncovered.

So, that’s the first part of the DEGS review of 2023; I hope you’ve enjoyed reading it, and I’ll be back next week with Part 2.