Evergreen Contracting & Irrigation designs and installs landscape lighting for homes in Palmyra. An old description of this borough called it a neat brick and frame community, and that mix is still the first thing we look at on any property here. Free estimates arrive within a week, and repairs get scheduled in 1 to 2 weeks.
Palmstown, Then Palmyra
Dr. John Palm came from Bavaria, took up a hundred acres here in 1766, and gave the place its first name. It stayed Palmstown until 1810. The turnpike arrived in 1817 and the borough became a proper horse stop, somewhere to eat and rest between larger towns.
Shoe factories followed, then bologna, and the growth of the chocolate business a few miles west brought more people again. What is left is a dense little borough with a lot of nineteenth and early twentieth century housing still standing. Plenty of it deserves better than a floodlight over the garage.
Brick and Frame Want Opposite Things
Half the housing stock here is brick and half is painted frame, and the two want almost contradictory treatment. It is the single most common thing people get wrong when they try this themselves.
Brick loves grazing light. Set a fixture close to the wall, aim it steeply upward, and the shallow angle throws small shadows off every course and mortar joint. The wall gains depth and texture that daylight never shows. It is the most flattering thing you can do to a brick elevation.
Do that to painted clapboard and it looks awful. Siding is a series of horizontal lap joints, and grazing light rakes across them and turns each one into a hard shadow line, so the wall reads as a stack of stripes. Every dent, every wave in the boards, every patched repair gets advertised. Frame houses want the fixture set further back with a wider, softer wash that lights the plane evenly and leaves the laps alone.
On a house that is brick below and frame above, which happens often enough around here, we use both approaches on the same elevation and blend where they meet.
Lighting That Looks After Itself
This is a commuting borough. Plenty of people here leave for Harrisburg or Hershey before it is properly light in January and pull back in well after dark. A lighting system should be working when you arrive without anyone having to think about it.
Plain timers are the usual weak point, because sunset moves by roughly three hours across the year. Set one in June and by December it is switching on two hours late. You end up resetting it every few weeks or living with it being wrong.
A photocell solves half the problem by switching on at actual darkness rather than a fixed hour. Better still is an astronomic timer, which knows the date and your location and follows sunset on its own all year. Pair that with a set off-time and the system runs itself from one January to the next. We usually set the entry and driveway to run through the evening and let deeper garden zones shut off earlier, which trims the running hours without losing anything you notice.
Tree-Shaded Streets and Older Blocks
Mature trees over the streets are part of what makes this borough pleasant, and they do affect a design. A canopy in full leaf blocks and filters light, so a fixture aimed past a bare branch in March is firing into foliage by June. We plan beam paths around where the leaves will actually be.
Lots here are close together, so precision matters more than power. Narrow beams and shielded fixtures keep light on your property and out of the front window next door. We check the result from the pavement and across the street, not just from your own steps.
Made for Lebanon Valley Weather
Humid summers with sudden storms, then winters of ice and repeated freezing. Fixtures go in weather-rated with sealed connections so both seasons pass quietly. Low-voltage LEDs hold warm, steady output on very little power, which counts most through the long dark months.
Growth is planned for from the outset. A light buried in a shrub by July has stopped working for you, and one sited near a lawn edge will meet a mower soon enough. We work out where each fixture needs to sit a season or two ahead.
Part of Every Job
People here keep their homes well and expect a contractor to match it. Working with Evergreen Contracting & Irrigation brings:
- Continuous experience at this trade going back to 2001
- Command of irrigation and outdoor lighting alike, under one roof
- A two year warranty covering anything newly installed
- Manufacturer warranty standing behind every fixture fitted
- A discount for veterans and those currently serving
- Maintenance on whatever rhythm suits, quarterly through seasonal
- A family concern, owned and operated locally
We hold the same line on projects in Schaefferstown and Skyline View, large jobs and small.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does it matter whether my house is brick or sided?
It matters a great deal, and the right method for one is wrong for the other. Brick responds to grazing light, meaning a fixture close to the wall aimed steeply up, which casts small shadows off every joint and gives the surface real depth.
Painted siding treated the same way looks poor. The lap joints turn into hard shadow lines and the wall reads as a set of stripes, with every ripple and old repair on display. Frame houses need the fixture pulled back with a wider, gentler wash so the surface lights evenly. Same house next door, opposite technique.
My timer is always wrong by winter. Is there a better option?
There is, and it is a common complaint. Sunset shifts by around three hours between June and December, so a fixed-time timer is only ever correct for a few weeks either side of when you set it.
A photocell switches at genuine darkness instead of a set hour, which fixes the on-time year round. An astronomic timer goes further, tracking sunset by date and location automatically, so the system stays right without being touched. Combine it with a set off-time and you can forget the thing exists.
Can different parts of the yard run on different schedules?
Yes, and it is worth doing. We commonly set entry and driveway lighting to run through the evening, since that is what you actually need when you get home, while garden and feature zones switch off earlier. It reduces running hours without costing you anything you would notice.
Will the lights spill into my neighbor’s windows?
Not with the right fixtures and proper aiming. On close-set borough lots we use narrow beams and shielded units, then check the effect from the pavement and from opposite before finishing. Light stopping at your line is part of the specification.
How quickly can you come out?
Free estimates arrive within a week of your call. Installations usually take one to three days depending on the design. You get the timeline up front, and the site is left tidy.
Contact Us
Ready to see the house the way it deserves after sunset? Evergreen Contracting & Irrigation is ready to take it on. Estimates cost nothing and come quickly. With seasonal upkeep available, the system carries on performing year after year.
Contact us today to book a consultation.