Habiturf grows along the northeast corner of the 23-acre George W. Bush Presidential Center in Dallas at Southern Methodist University.

A mixture of native grasses that requires less maintenance to produce a lush lawn than a traditional turfgrass used in the South has been developed by a University of Texas at Austin ecologist and licensed to a sod producer.

Known as Habitul•, the native lawn mix was developed by the Ecosystem Design Group of the university's Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center. The university has given a 10-year, nonexclusive license for Habiturf to Bladerunner Farms (https://landscapearchitect.com/products/listing.php?id=5841) of Poteet, Texas.

Mark Simmons, Ecosystem Design Group director, began studying the turfgrass alternative in 2007. He did so out of concern homeowners in the Southwest and elsewhere were abandoning lawns because certain grass varieties can be resource-intensive. Commercial and private lawns in the U.S. currently use more water, fertilizers and chemicals than any single agricultural crop.

"Traditional lawns rely on one grass species to survive in changing conditions," Simmons said. "By developing an ecologically stable turfgrass that mimics nature, we can help keep lawns a viable option as water and other resources become more precious."

Habiturf uses a combination of grasses that occur naturally in Texas and Midwestern states where prairies once were common. It is expected to become available as sod in spring 2014.

In research published in 2011, EDG showed that a combination of buffalograss and six other native grass species could produce a uniform carpet of lawn that stayed 20 percent thicker into the summer than bermudagrass (a nonnative species commonly used as a monoculture in the South).

The thicker native grass mixture also developed half as many dandelions in the study as bermudagrass and buffalograss. A healthy Habituf lawn should thus require less herbicide to maintain. Once a native grass system is established, it is self-maintaining compared to many traditional lawn species, according to Simmons. To learn more about Bladerunner Farms, visit: www.bladerunnerfarms.com.