Landscape lighting and irrigation design covers two jobs that often get bundled together because they both involve running wire or pipe through a yard before the final grading and planting go in. Lighting design means placing low-voltage fixtures to highlight trees, walkways, patios, and architectural features, then wiring them back to a transformer with a timer or smart controller. Irrigation design means mapping zones for turf and beds, running PVC or poly pipe, setting heads or drip lines, and tying it all into a controller that adjusts for rain and soil type. Around Huntersville, both trades deal with the area's clay-heavy soil and mix of new construction lots and mature, tree-covered yards, which affects everything from trenching depth to zone layout.
We track 15 businesses in this category. When comparing them, look at whether they design a system on paper before digging (zone maps, fixture counts, voltage drop calculations) rather than eyeballing it on install day, whether they use commercial-grade components (brass or copper fixtures, Hunter or Rain Bird heads) instead of big-box kits, and whether they offer a real warranty on labor and parts, not just the manufacturer's warranty.
Our scoring weighs review consistency, responsiveness, licensing, and how well each company documents its work, and we explain the full process on the methodology page. For the ranked list with scores and write-ups, see our best landscape lighting and irrigation design guide.