Our Mission

To bring inspiration and transformation to our clients’ outdoor spaces through our dedication to serving with integrity, professionalism, friendliness and exceptional standards.

D.E. Garden Services - Our Story

D.E. Garden Services, known as ‘DEGS’, was formed by Dave Evans in 1999. He built DEGS from the ground up starting with a handful of local clients, and his reputation of being an honest, hard-working sole trader spread quickly by word-of-mouth; the customer base grew fast, and soon DEGS had all the work it needed, and more.

But Dave’s experience goes back a lot further than 1999. As a 13-year-old, he earned money to buy his first racing bike by working in neighbours’ gardens and by the time he was 16 he was working in a garden centre. He pursued a different career through his twenties but continued to enjoy his gardening hobby by working in gardens in his spare time. So, when Dave reached a career crossroads, it was natural for him to move into landscaping as a full-time career. He studied horticulture through the Royal Horticultural Society, and thus DEGS was born.

With DEGS getting busier each season, it made sense for Dave’s wife, Marion, to become more involved. She was already dealing with the business admin but DEGS needed more than that, so in 2013, she resigned from her full-time role of managing a technical claims team for an insurance broker, and came on board to look after the general running of the business. With over 30 years’ administrative and PA experience in differing roles, including in the legal field and also working as a fraud investigator, Marion relished moving into the realms of managing a small business. She designed the company logo and business cards, organised branded workwear, and set up a Facebook page.

DEGS had work flooding in and in 2016, Dave and Marion’s son, Zaine, joined the business, followed by a number of subcontractors. In March 2018, Marion was unfortunately diagnosed with breast cancer and had to undergo an intensive treatment plan, so Dave and Marion decided to slim DEGS right down to make it more manageable. The subcontractors moved on and Dave took Marion to all her many treatments. The rest of the time he and Zaine worked incredibly hard; it was exhausting. Marion remained upbeat and positive through her treatment but the chemo hit her hard; she did what she could on the admin side and also discovered she could write poetry! Instead of growing DEGS again, Dave and Marion decided to keep it small. In 2019, after working loyally for DEGS for three years and having been such a support during Marion’s illness, Zaine moved on to pastures new.

The Covid lockdown of 2020 was tricky to navigate as everyone was at home and wanted their gardens to look lovely, and Dave was in such demand he couldn’t cover all the work. Thankfully, the day was saved by the lovely Jade, Dave and Marion’s daughter, who is a talented wedding photographer. Due to lockdown rules all her weddings had been postponed, so she joined DEGS on a part-time basis and went out daily to work with Dave.

Fast forward to 2023; here we are, still working our magic in your gardens, and Jade still works for DEGS on an ad hoc basis, when she isn’t rushed off her feet shooting weddings! Zaine also occasionally lends a hand with fencing and shed building on weekends.

So that, in a nutshell, is the DEGS story!

What We’ve Achieved

  • A 5-star reputation - our reviews speak for themselves, you can check out our Facebook reviews here and our Google reviews here.

  • Over 40 years’ professional experience and knowledge of horticulture and gardening.

  • A loyal client base for whom DEGS has worked for many years who can vouch for our services - some of our clients have been with us from the very beginning.

  • An extensive collection of professional tools and machinery, which make our job possible.

  • The ability to easily adapt to each client’s differing requirements and circumstances. Dave and Marion are very aware that a ‘one size fits all’ approach doesn’t work; they always look at the ‘bigger picture’ with active, creative minds in order to problem-solve and develop original solutions.

Meet Dave and Marion

Dave is the man behind DEGS, who you will meet if you book us to work in your garden. He carries out and directs all the physical work, from mowing your lawns and cutting your hedges, to constructing fencing lines (that will give your neighbours fence envy), and much more. Dave has studied horticulture and is very knowledgeable about plants, shrubs and trees. He also has a great collection of award winning Bonsai trees, which he has developed and nurtured over the last 30 years.

Marion runs the office and deals with everything behind the scenes; she oversees all operations, from dealing with enquiries and scheduling work, to sourcing and purchasing materials, as well as everything in-between, including making lunches! She also likes a bit of ‘hands-on’ work when extra labour is required, and particularly enjoys refelting shed roofs.

Interests outside of DEGS: Dave and Marion enjoy working in their own garden and Dave is growing a variety of fruits and vegetables. In the second picture Dave is carrying Marion over the threshold of their new home, which they moved into last year.

Dave has a passion for motorbikes and for 19 years, he worked as a part-time, fully qualified motorcycle instructor (he called it his ‘paid hobby’). He retired from this occupation last year so that he and Marion can spend more time out on the bike, riding for pleasure and exploring the beautiful Norfolk countryside. Marion loves riding pillion with Dave and they enjoy going to watch bike racing together.