Our story
It started with six lawns and a Fremd High School freshman.
In the summer of 1996, David L. Swanson started mowing six neighbors' lawns. By August he had more than 25. By his senior year he was servicing almost 110 homes a week, with three full-time workers running the routes while he finished school.
"A perfect lawn every time."Dave's motto from the very first season. It still sets the standard.
Dave spent his college summers working for other landscape companies, learning design, estimating, brick work and drainage. After graduating from Illinois State, he restarted DLS with a 1985 dump truck, a pickup and an old skid loader. Many of his original part-time helpers are still with the company today.
- 1996Six lawns in the neighborhood
- Senior yrAbout 110 homes a week with a hired crew
- RestartDLS re-launches after college, focused on design and installs
- TodayFive crews: brick, landscape, drainage and two maintenance teams