Western Wheatgrass

Western Wheatgrass (Pascopyrum smithii) is a great choice when you want a native grass that does more than simply look pretty. Its blue-green foliage has a cool, slightly silvery cast, and underground rhizomes slowly knit individual plants together into a durable, natural-looking sod. That spreading habit makes it especially useful for stabilizing slopes, filling open ground, revegetating disturbed areas, or creating a more meadow-like alternative to conventional turf.

It is also impressively adaptable for a Utah native: Western Wheatgrass handles drought, cold, alkaline or saline soils, and even heavier clay better than many ornamental grasses. Once established, it is a tough, long-lived plant that can persist through challenging conditions with relatively little care. Give it room to spread—the same rhizomes that make it so useful for erosion control mean it isn't the best choice where you want a perfectly behaved individual clump.