BYLA - Better Outside

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BYLA - Better Outside Landscape architecture studio designing site-specific outdoor spaces across the mountain West.

This week's plant study. Acer glabrum. Our native mountain maple. Clean fall color, multi-stem habit, at home in the und...
10/17/2026

This week's plant study. Acer glabrum. Our native mountain maple. Clean fall color, multi-stem habit, at home in the understory. Part of the land, not imported onto it.

A deciduous, multi-stemmed tree native from southeast Alaska through the Rockies. It grows in wooded hills and ravines along streams, typically above 4,500 feet. Smooth gray bark, red twigs, and leaves that turn yellow to reddish-orange in fall. It wants sunlight and well-drained rocky soil but won't tolerate heat or wind.

Moments from a recent project. Granite boulders wrapped in lichen, grasses catching late light, lavender and hydrangeas ...
10/16/2026

Moments from a recent project. Granite boulders wrapped in lichen, grasses catching late light, lavender and hydrangeas spilling between stone. Some landscapes just look like they've always been.

Architect: Farmer Payne Architects
Photographer: Craig Wolfrom Photography
Builder: Lee Gilman Builders
Landscape Contractor: Sun Valley Garden Center
Global Stone Sourcing

There is a moment early in a project when the big idea clicks into place. For us, it often happens like this... axonomet...
10/15/2026

There is a moment early in a project when the big idea clicks into place. For us, it often happens like this... axonometric lines, a few marker washes, and suddenly we can feel the terraces stepping down.

This week's plant. Acer pseudosieboldianum, Korean maple.Everyone asks for a Japanese maple. We get it. The fine-texture...
10/10/2026

This week's plant. Acer pseudosieboldianum, Korean maple.

Everyone asks for a Japanese maple. We get it. The fine-textured leaves, the crimson fall color, the way it anchors a garden with something that feels considered. But Idaho winters don't care about what looks good on a mood board.

Hardy to zone 4, topping out around 20 feet with a multi-stemmed form and a rounded canopy. Deep red in fall. Small purple flowers in spring. Sun to part shade, consistent water, very little else.

The best substitution is the one nobody questions.

Walking around Pioneer Square here in Seattle today. Great inspiration looking down at the sidewalks at patterns both fa...
10/09/2026

Walking around Pioneer Square here in Seattle today. Great inspiration looking down at the sidewalks at patterns both fabricated and natural. Glass from light wells , stone, leaves… and rain! Olson Kundig saw the post on Pioneer Square also- nice!

An quick evening site visit in Sun Valley. Landscape Contractor: Webb Landscape, Inc.Architect: RLB
10/09/2026

An quick evening site visit in Sun Valley.

Landscape Contractor: Webb Landscape, Inc.
Architect: RLB

A site like this doesn't need much convincing. Floor-to-ceiling glass folds open to the deck and hot tub, the lake stret...
10/08/2026

A site like this doesn't need much convincing.

Floor-to-ceiling glass folds open to the deck and hot tub, the lake stretches out through the trees, and the mountains frame the horizon. We wanted every moment inside this house to feel like being outdoors, just with a roof overhead.

In collaboration with OK Architects, we worked to make sure the landscape isn't something you look at from a distance. It's something you're in.

Architecture: Olson Kundig
Contractor: Martel Construction

A sketch study for a riparian restoration. The focus was to rehabilitate an eroded bank and blend the new landscape with...
10/07/2026

A sketch study for a riparian restoration. The focus was to rehabilitate an eroded bank and blend the new landscape with its native surrounding.

10/02/2026

Steep hillside, tight building envelope, and a family that wanted their home to feel like it had always belonged here. We worked the planting outward from the house in layers, using conifers and sagebrush to blur every edge until the designed garden and the wild hillside stopped feeling like separate things.

Architecture: Peter Zimmerman Architects
Contractor: Lee Gilman Builders, Inc
Landscape Contractor: Sun Valley Garden Center
Photographer: Audrey Hall, Gabe Border
As featured in: Mountain Living

From sketch to finish. A Sun Valley home wrapped in garden, room by room.Architecture: RLB ArchitecturaLandscape Contrac...
10/01/2026

From sketch to finish. A Sun Valley home wrapped in garden, room by room.

Architecture: RLB Architectura
Landscape Contractor: Sun Valley Garden Center
As featured in: Architectural Digest

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323 Lewis Street
Ketchum, ID
83340

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