The unique beauty of the South Carolina Lowcountry has wowed since the first settlers sailed up the coast and discovered a lush landscape of white sand beaches, maritime forests, palmettos and magnolias—a verdant paradise of subtropical wetlands and fauna that continues to inspire both locals and visitors today. That natural beauty is what the professional landscape architects at REMARK strive to showcase in the planning of every project, through a thoughtful, deliberate process that’s respectful of both the client’s aesthetic and the land. And it’s a reflection of REMARK founder J.R. Kramer’s deeply felt connection to the land.
“We’re very unique in our approach to projects,” says Kramer, Professional Landscape Architect (PLA) and LEED AP, who partnered with wife Holly Kramer, PLA, to start the service in 2007. “I don’t think there’s any other landscape architecture firm in the region that does exactly what we do. We take the time to consider factors beyond the normal scope of design.”
Kramer grew up in Ohio’s rural farm country, enjoying a life spent close to the land. He credits the tenets of local landscape architect pioneer Robert Marvin for influencing the direction of their approach to landscape architecture.
“A beloved quote by him that has guided us is ‘to create and design an environment in which each individual can grow and develop to be a full human being as God intended him to be,’” says Kramer. The couple embraced that philosophy early in their careers and paired it with REMARK’s core values of innovation, collaboration and stewardship.
“Our team develops an innovative idea that meshes with the client’s vision,” explains Kramer. “We then collaborate with the architect, the interior designer, the homeowner—all the players—to create a very successful project. And we’re committed to being a good steward of the land, and to the client’s dollars as well, by creating a space that embraces as many indigenous elements as possible while maintaining an efficiency that makes sense and avoids costly excesses.”
Kramer says that when a client reaches out to his team, the project unfolds in a seamless process that begins with an understanding of their vision and the property. “We examine the property for challenges or unique features, and review the architectural plans for the home,” explains Kramer. “The trees and drainage are two really important items that we focus on. We identify the best trees to protect, and how are we going to drain this property. Because here in the Lowcountry, it’s flat, typically, and low, and we’re putting a home where there wasn’t one before, completely shifting the dynamics. We have to consider how to handle the drainage so it’s not negatively impacting the home, its functions and the neighbors.”
Choosing plants with the ability to withstand severe weather is also part of the process. “We really think it all the way through,” Kramer emphasizes. “What plants we’re going to use in which spaces based on the microclimate. We do a lot with natives and some exotics, and plantings that will survive the deer, especially in Kiawah and Seabrook, Palmetto Bluff—development is driving them out of a lot of their natural habitat.”
REMARK works on all aspects of design, whether it’s a commercial or residential project, site planning and master planning—a diversity of work that complements the company portfolio and addresses the team’s various strengths. “We spend a lot of time on-site,” notes Kramer. “That’s also a large part of the process, to ensure the work is being done correctly.”
REMARK has grown regionally, with ongoing projects in South Carolina, Georgia, North Carolina and Tennessee. “We have a solid 10-year vision plan about how to grow the firm internally to reach more people with quality design and thinking about it in a sustainable manner. How we’re handling the sense of place, the plantings, the hardscape materials, so that doesn’t get lost,” Kramer says. “People are coming here for the charm, the visual beauty, so we have to maintain that. For us, sustainability is about being a really good steward, avoiding using a lot of lawn that requires a lot of water. How are you going to use that space—are you going to be playing football with your children. Some projects have no lawn at all, which is great.”
Another innovation REMARK embraces is the practice of green mulching, in which the pine straw and hard wood mulch typically used are replaced by ground cover plantings. “That way you have the plant’s roots going down into the soil helping to break it up, which allows more water to infiltrate,” explains Kramer. “It encourages a lot more biodiversity with insects—it’s just a lot better for the environment.”
The location of a landscaping project and changes in climate are also elements the REMARK team considers. “We look at what’s growing naturally in the wild in that location,” says Kramer. “Another consideration is daytime flooding, so when we’re studying a site, we now have to increase the house grade so its high and dry during a king tide.”
The nuances of the Lowcountry landscape and sensitive environments, like marsh and maritime forests, provide challenges and opportunities that Kramer and his team work around with an approach they’ve dubbed “aesthetic ecology.”
“We’ve come to understand the client’s desire to have a landscape, especially around the home, to be a little more tidy,” Kramer explains. “People say they want to have a naturalistic landscape, and that means a lot of different things to different people. So, we embrace nature and the client’s wishes, thinking about how to apply aesthetics to the natural habitat—how can we have a fun take on a marsh ecosystem, something that’s a little more designed, and then make the site more naturalistic at the edges.”
REMARK’s innovative style and creative design team are connecting more people to the Lowcountry’s unique natural landscape and preserving it for the future. *
Wendy Swat Snyder is a Charleston-based freelance writer (sweetgrassandgrits.com).
