Evergreen Contracting & Irrigation designs and installs landscape lighting for homes in Newmanstown. This corner of Lebanon County holds some of the oldest buildings in the state alongside houses finished last year, and the two want quite different plans. Free estimates arrive within a week, and repairs get scheduled in 1 to 2 weeks.
An Old Village Growing Quickly
Settlement here goes back to around 1720, when Palatinate families took up the limestone ground and called the township Muhlbach for the creek that powered their mills. Fort Zeller still stands nearby and is generally reckoned the oldest fort in Pennsylvania, a plain Germanic blockhouse that sheltered families during the frontier years.
The place has changed pace lately. The population has nearly doubled since 2000, so new homes now sit within a few miles of buildings raised before the Revolution. It makes for an interesting mix of work, and it means no single approach fits every property here.
One Trench Instead of Two
Here is something worth knowing before you hire anyone. Landscape lighting and irrigation both require the same thing: cutting your lawn open, running lines, and putting it all back. Done as separate jobs by separate firms, you pay for that disruption twice and wait for the grass to knit twice.
Because we install both, we can do them in one visit. Wire and pipe run in the same trench where the layout allows, the lawn gets restored once, and you deal with one crew and one schedule instead of two. On a property of any size that saves real money and a good deal of aggravation.
It also produces a better result. A lighting installer working around someone else’s sprinkler lines has to guess where they are, and a spade through a lateral is an expensive afternoon. Planning both together means heads and fixtures do not compete for the same ground, and nothing gets sprayed directly at a lens every morning.
Building It In Before the Concrete Goes Down
If you are building or having hardscape put in, this is the cheapest lighting decision you will ever make. Run empty sleeves under any driveway, walk, or patio before it is poured. A short length of conduit costs very little at that stage.
Skip it and the options later are all worse. Either the cable takes a long detour around the obstacle, which adds cost and can cause voltage problems on a distant run, or the hardscape gets cut and patched, which never quite matches. We have seen plenty of good patios with a scar across them for the sake of a sleeve nobody thought to put in.
The same applies to planting beds. Getting fixtures and cable in before the beds are filled and mulched is faster, tidier, and cheaper than working around established shrubs a year later. If you are mid-project, it is worth a conversation now rather than next spring.
Old Stone and New Build on the Same Road
The older houses out here are Germanic and plain, built in stone and heavy frame with small openings and steep roofs. They want warm, restrained light aimed at texture, with fixtures set close and angled up so the stonework shows its depth.
Newer homes are a different problem entirely, with wide frontages, attached garages, and far more glass. There the driveway and entry carry more weight than the facade, and even spacing matters more than texture. Same road, opposite methods, which is why we walk a property before quoting rather than after.
Made for the Weather Here
Humid summers with hard storms, then winters of ice and repeated freezing. Fixtures go in weather-rated with sealed connections so both seasons pass without trouble. Low-voltage LEDs hold warm, steady output on very little power, which matters most through the dark months.
Growth is planned for from the outset. A fixture buried in planting by July has stopped doing its job, and one placed at a lawn edge will meet a mower before long. We work out where each light needs to sit a season or two ahead.
Standard on Every Project
Folk out this way have looked after their properties for generations and expect a contractor to keep up. Hiring Evergreen Contracting & Irrigation gets you:
- Steady work at this trade going back to 2001
- One firm covering irrigation and outdoor lighting both
- Two years of warranty on new installation work
- Manufacturer cover behind each fixture as well
- A price reduction for veterans and serving personnel
- Upkeep on a quarterly, monthly or seasonal footing
- Family ownership and local accountability
The same goes for projects in Schaefferstown and Womelsdorf, on jobs of any size.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can lighting and irrigation be installed at the same time?
Yes, and it is the sensible way to do it. Both jobs involve opening the lawn, running lines, and restoring the ground. Handled separately you pay for that twice and wait for the grass to recover twice.
Run together, wire and pipe can share a trench where the layout allows, the lawn is put back once, and there is one crew and one schedule. There is a practical benefit too, since planning both at once keeps sprinkler heads from spraying straight onto a lens every morning and stops anyone putting a spade through a line they did not know was there.
We are building. What should we do now to make lighting easier later?
Put empty sleeves under every driveway, walk, and patio before they are poured. Conduit costs almost nothing at that stage, and it saves either a long detour for the cable or a cut-and-patch across finished hardscape afterward.
It is also worth getting fixtures and cable into planting beds before they are filled and mulched. Working around established shrubs a year later takes longer and costs more, and the result is never quite as neat.
Will sprinkler spray damage the light fixtures?
Quality fixtures are sealed and cope with it, but constant spray leaves mineral deposits on the lens that dull the output over time. The better answer is to position them so it does not happen, which is straightforward when the same team plans both systems.
How should an old stone house be lit?
With warm, modest light aimed to reveal texture. Set the fixture close to the wall and angle it steeply upward so each stone throws a small shadow. Keep the output low, as older buildings look wrong when they are over-lit, and stay in the warmer range so the stone does not read grey.
How quickly can you get out to us?
Free estimates come within a week. Most installs take one to three days depending on the design. You get the schedule before we start, and we leave the site tidy.
Contact Us
Ready to see the property properly after sunset? Evergreen Contracting & Irrigation is ready to take it on, and can handle your irrigation in the same visit. Estimates are free and arrive quickly.
Contact us today to arrange a consultation.