If you are the type of person who is meticulous about your lawn and wants it to look as lush as it can, chances are you know all the tricks and tips when it comes to how to care for it. You jump on dandelions the moment they rear their annoying heads, and your watering schedule may be one of the few constants in your week. So no doubt that you already know exactly how to aerate your lawn to get the healthiest grass. But, if you are rolling with a hand core or spike aerator then adding extra weight to it may make the job a bit easier.
To get the best results when aerating your lawn, you want the spikes or tines to penetrate the surface enough so that water, nutrients, sunlight, and air can reach the roots of the grass. This process helps to loosen up any packed parts of the lawn so that all of the vital ingredients for healthy grass growth can enter the soil. However, if your hand-held aerator is a little on the light side or you find that you have to go over the same spot multiple times to get deeper into the soil, then adding a weight plate from your home workout equipment can help give your lawn aerator the boost it needs to perform its best.
Why this TikTok hack works for your lawn aerator
@dadtwintips
♬ Sweet Disposition FeelingBlew – Feelingblew
In a TikTok video shared by @dadtwintips, he explained his frustration with a lawn aerator he picked up and how it wasn’t making the holes he would expect from such a tool. Instead of giving up or returning the item, he came up with an ingenious hack that would make the device work to its full potential. Simply slipping on a weight plate allowed for added poundage which made it possible for the spike aerator to drive a bit deeper into the ground. Because of the convenient hole in the middle of the weight — which is typically meant for the bar to slide into — he easily slipped it through the handle of the aerator so that the weight could rest on top of the crossbars located just above the spindle of spikes.
This hack is best suited for manual lawn aerators built light enough to be used by hand, unlike the ones that can be attached to riding lawnmowers or models used by professional landscapers to maintain clients’ lawns. Because of the relatively lower cost of manual aerators compared to more hard-core models, it could be the perfect start for DIY lawn maintenance. So if you need to add a little more punch when you are ready to manually aerate your lawn, then consider slapping on a 20-pound weight plate to give it some extra heft to complete the job.
