After very little snow or rain this winter, everyone is experiencing dead or browning grass. Besides this past winter’s drought, Kansas City summers are infamous for being extremely hot and dry. Most homeowners will start experiencing browning grass by midsummer. If this problem isn’t addressed, widespread dead grass and shriveled new plants will occur.
As we know, April showers bring May flowers, but they also bring grass that doesn’t fully develop a root system. Plus, it might not be enough to help the grass recover from the lack of water this past winter. The regular spring and early summer rains give them regular access to water – causing an underdeveloped root system needed to survive the hot, dry summer. When it gets to that point, homeowners are scrambling to drag a hose around the yard, over-watering some parts and under-watering others, trying to prevent the dead grass from spreading.
However, all of this can be avoided by addressing the issue before it happens by having an underground sprinkler installed during the spring. With a professionally installed automatic underground irrigation system from Heinen, you won’t be dragging a hose around your lawn every 20 minutes, or worse – turning on the sprinkler and forgetting about it until hours later. Over-watering is bad news for your lawn and your water bill.

Paul’s Yard Before Irrigation Installation
One of our customers, Paul, had a Rachio underground sprinkler installed last spring. His brand-new sprinkler system came with a smartphone app that made controlling his lawn irrigation a breeze. Not only does Rachio come with a smartphone app that lets you control your sprinklers from anywhere, it also connects to the local National Weather Service so if rain is in the forecast you won’t have to worry about seeing your sprinklers on while it’s raining. Rachio comes with customizable zones so your grass and shrubs will get the perfect amount of water. Even better – if you already have an irrigation system, it is possible to upgrade your current system to Rachio!
According to Paul: “Before I had an automatic sprinkler system, my lawn was brown and patchy by mid-July. And it was just taking way too long to drag the hose all around my lawn every single day. Now that I have an irrigation system, my lawn stays green and I’m saving water – thanks to the Rachio controller and smartphone app.”

Paul’s Yard After Irrigation Installation
“The installation was complete within a couple of days and did hardly any damage to my yard. I can’t believe how quickly and efficiently Heinen finished the installation process. Now it’s the middle of summer with temperatures well above the 90’s everyday – and my yard looks green and healthy as can be. If I want to give one of the zones in my yard and extra drink, all I have to do is grab my phone, pull up the Rachio app, and turn the sprinklers on. It’s simple!”
If your property doesn’t have an irrigation system and you’d like to prevent brown grass this summer, give Debbie a call at (913) 362-8439 and ask her to have one of Heinen’s irrigation specialists come by and give you a no obligation quote!