Hybrid Bluegrass

A new kind of Bluegrass is making its way into lawns in Utah as part of a voluntary conversion brought on by years of drought. The University of Utah has been experimenting with several different kinds of drought-resistant grasses. They have one in particular, called Bella Bluegrass, that was discovered growing wild in Nebraska.

It grows more slowly than most people's grass and uses a lot less water.

Bella Bluegrass is being grown at a sod farm in Tooele County, it's one of more than 200 varieties of KentuckyBluegrass that have been discovered all over the world and studied to see if they will make a better, less thirsty, lawn. Owners of Biograss Sod Farms claim it will use 30 to 50 percent less water.

"The other thing is it doesn't require anywhere near the fertilizer, yet has fabulous deep dark green color," said Warren Bell, president of Biograss Sod Farms.

"The conservation ethic is there. I think people get it. We have to use less water," said Bell. "The population is growing. The water supply isn't growing. We have to be more efficient in how we use the resource."

Bella Bluegrass was found growing naturally in the relatively dry Nebraska plains.