In this episode, we aerate the lawn before sand leveling so the sand will get nice and deep, down to the root zone. I rented this Ryan aerator from sunbelt rentals and had it over the weekend (pro tip: you get daily rate if you rent it over the weekend because they are closed.) Core aeration is something I have heard great things about. It is supposed to be one of the best things you can do for a lush and healthy lawn. My grass in the front is doing AMAZING in the 2 weeks since aerating and putting sand down... but the back yard (no sand) looks about the same so I don't think I can give any of the credit to the aeration alone. Next video will be all about the sand leveling process... so that'll be fun!