Landscaping & Outdoor Living on Sullivan’s Island, SC
Local & Family-Run
Sullivan’s Island Landscaping and Outdoor Living, Coastal and Understated
Cramers Landscaping is a family company. Doug Cramer has worked in landscaping his whole life, with more than 30 years of experience, and his son Zach is our licensed residential builder. Doug and Zach design every project themselves, and our own crew builds it.
Sullivan’s Island is one of the most distinctive places we work: historic cottages and raised beach houses under a maritime forest, with a town that protects that character closely. A landscape here should look like it has always been there.
Recent Coastal Projects
A waterfront backyard
This waterfront property was a whole-yard project rather than a single feature. Extensive plantings frame the yard, and landscape lighting carries it into the evening. A pavilion and a brick herringbone patio give the family somewhere to sit out of the sun.
The backyard lawn is artificial turf, so it stays green and usable all year, and the fire pit sits right out on it. Out front the lawn is zoysia, which is soft underfoot and handles foot traffic.
A bright coastal pool pavilion
This pavilion is bright and coastal by design. It has a tabby fireplace for cool evenings and sits on a travertine pool deck, which stays cool underfoot in summer. The house is raised, so for the same client we also turned the space under it into a bar, a bathroom and a game area.
Building on Sullivan’s Island
Sullivan’s Island protects its character closely. The town has a Design Review Board and two historic districts, and most changes to properties in those districts are reviewed. We can prepare and submit the application for you.
The town also limits how much of a lot can be covered with hard surface. On lots of 15,000 square feet or more, impervious coverage is capped at 30 percent, and smaller lots use a formula. That makes permeable choices worth considering. Permeable pavers have to be certified by the Interlocking Concrete Paver Institute and installed to its instructions for a pervious surface. For the look, the same materials suit Sullivan’s as the rest of the coast: tabby shell concrete, or a natural stone such as travertine or coral stone, with brick as an accent or border. Plantation mix, a type of gravel, is a driveway alternative to concrete with a softer, more natural look, and it is permeable. The town enforces a tree ordinance too, and it has the final say on all of it.
The look that fits the island is coastal and understated: planting that belongs here, a pool deck in a stone that stays cool underfoot, and lighting in solid brass, copper or marine-grade stainless steel, because salt air corrodes anything cheaper. Under a raised house, an outdoor shower plumbed hot and cold gets used well into the fall.
What Sullivan’s Island Allows
Sullivan’s Island writes its character into the zoning code:
- Fences top out at 5 feet and must be at least a quarter open, with 4 feet in front of the house. Chain link is not allowed. The code says it plainly: tall privacy fences are incompatible with the island’s informal character.
- Structures with a roof, like a pavilion or cabana, sit at least 20 feet behind the front of the house and 10 feet from the lot lines, with limits on size and height. An outdoor shower is allowed below the flood elevation with a disconnect valve.
- Pools sit at least 20 feet behind the front of the house and can’t be raised more than 6 inches above grade.
- At least half of every lot has to stay naturally vegetated or landscaped. Uncompacted gravel, shell and crushed stone count as pervious.
- Lighting: light sources shouldn’t be visible from the neighbors, the street, the beach or the marsh. Sullivan’s is also a sea turtle nesting beach. From May 15 to October 31, decorative lights that can be seen from the beach have to be shielded or screened, or turned off after 10 p.m.
The town’s landscape guidance favors grasses, low shrubs and high-canopy trees that keep views open through the lot, and native plants. Heavily stylized planting and planting meant to wall a lot off don’t fit. Removing a tree of 6 inches or more, or any palmetto, needs approval, and replacements are inch for inch.
Rules as published when we checked in 2026. Guidelines change, and the board or town always has the final say, so we confirm the current rules for your property before a design is final.
Every Service We Offer, Available On Sullivan’s Island
The projects on this page are only part of what we do. We offer all of our services on Sullivan’s Island, designed by Doug and Zach and built by our own crew. From the first site visit to the final walkthrough, here’s how a project works.
- Landscaping: landscape design and installation, plants and trees, sod, artificial turf, irrigation, drainage and grading, landscape lighting, mulch and bed edging, fountains and water features
- Hardscaping: patios and pavers, concrete and driveways, retaining walls, fire pits, pool decks
- Outdoor Structures: pergolas, pavilions, outdoor kitchens, outdoor fireplaces, outdoor showers
Worth knowing before you start
- Concrete and driveways: Plantation mix, a type of gravel, is a driveway alternative to concrete: a more natural, softer look, and it is permeable.
- Pergolas: Roofs run from a slatted open roof, to polycarbonate, shingles or exposed-fastener metal for a little more, to standing seam, cedar shakes or tile. Freestanding uses a little more material. Attaching to the house usually means more permitting and careful flashing into the house.
- Pavilions: A bathroom or storage room can be built into the back of a pavilion, as long as the plumbing and layout are settled before anything is framed.
- Outdoor fireplaces: Gas or wood, and we fit a blower either way.
- Landscape design and installation: On new construction, builder packages are the cheapest planting and the smallest slab that satisfies the contract, which is why those backyards all look the same.
Small jobs are welcome too. There’s no minimum job size.
What Projects Typically Cost
| Artificial turf | from $13 per sq ft |
|---|---|
| Fire pit | about $1,000 for a kit, $2,500+ custom |
| Pool deck in pavers or travertine | from about $18 per sq ft |
| Pavilion | $30,000 – $90,000+ |
| Full house landscape | $20,000+ in plants |
Ranges are typical, not quotes. Size, materials, site conditions and finishes move the number. You’ll get an exact price after the consultation.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does Sullivan’s Island limit how much of a lot can be paved?
Yes. The town caps impervious coverage, at 30 percent of the lot for lots of 15,000 square feet or more, with a formula for smaller lots. It is one reason permeable surfaces are worth considering, and the town has the final say.
Do projects on Sullivan’s Island need design review?
Many do. The town has a Design Review Board and two historic districts, and most changes to properties in those districts are reviewed. We can prepare and submit the application for you.
What holds up to salt air?
Salt air corrodes cheap fixtures and fasteners. For lighting near the coast we use solid brass, copper or marine-grade stainless steel.
Talk to Doug or Zach About Your Yard
Tell us what you have in mind for your Sullivan’s Island property, and we’ll set up a consultation at your home.