De-weeding a ring

[Sing Mia Song]

I am the proud owner of a nice bluestone ring. I'm the only one who uses it.

Back in the spring, when I was finishing grad school and working full time, driving three hours a day (only the grad school portion has since been removed from this equation), I got a bumper crop of weeds.

In the ensuing months, I have made numerous attempts at remediation.

1. Pulling them by hand. Works great for a small area, not 100 x 200. And it's bloody painful!

2. Round up. Kills the crown, but the roots are still there. You go to pull them up and, well, all you get is dead crown.

3. Flame weeding. Not nearly as effective as I thought it would be--I thought it would vaporize the weeds. Nope. It's slow and, while fairly gratifying, doesn't do anything about what's below the surface.

4. Paying my nephew to pull everything by hand. Ah, teenagers. No matter how broke they are, getting them to really do the job right requires standing over them with a bull whip, and I don't have time for that (see the aforementioned full time job and three hour commute).

Suggestions? I would prefer not to have to pay my ring guy to come back and basically redo it, as I shudder at the cost.

[apcohrs]

Roundup really should do it. Plants with a strong root system may need multiple applications. Or a more concentrated solution. Perhaps the formulation for killing brush.

Vinegar in full sunlight works on wimpy weeds.

[msj]

There is no easy and fast way to de-weed an outdoor arena. I've also pulled by hand several times/yr as well as using Round Up. What does last a bit longer and a bit less expensive is Ortho's Ground Clear. Used to be called Triox and it is supposed to last a yr. I usually end up using it a couple times/yr.

To be honest, once you get it weeded, please do ride on it. That helps considerably.

I stopped riding as my horse has allergies and I can only get a handful of summer days of riding in the outdoor due to pollens galorie and who really likes to ride indoors in the summer. :sigh:

My outdoor is able as large as yours - it's 80-85' X 220' so it's no easy task.

What has helped is using a battery powered sprayer. My first was a 1 gallon Gilmour but that died after a couple of yrs. Then I got a 2 gallon Hudson, which worked for the first 4 gallons and died. I just called the company and they are sending me 2 more motors. They are aware there are problems. Course that doesn't help when you want to get weeds taken care of..... :(

[Gloria]

Round up should do the trick. Just need to make sure that you don't pull them out until they are completely dead, or just leave them there. They aren't hurting anything. The first couple of years I had to round-up my arena about once a month. After that, nothing has grown in the arena.

[Sing Mia Song]

Okay, so how do you drag over the dead weeds without pulling up all your footing? Maybe I just need a proper drag and not my "redneck drag," but as soon as I start, I get a huge collection of footing and it's no longer of uniform depth. :confused:

[BellaLuna]

Head over to Tractor Supply and buy their GroundWork, Super Concentrate with Glyphosate 50%. Regular Round Up is only about 2% of that stuff. It runs about 80 bucks. Now, you will need some sort of application device, they also sell some pretty cool sprayers, different types and prices. We are lucky, I borrow my neighbors 4-wheeler with sprayer attached. My ring was in horrible shape, my own fault, too many kids, not enough time. This stuff works. You may need to apply to some areas another time, but what a time saver. Make sure that no horses would have access to munch around the area. Good luck!

[Bank of Dad]

You can rent a sprayer to drag behind a tractor from Finch Services, in Eldersburg or Westminster. Put the above mentioned spray in it and use the hose, or the direct ground spray. It helps to spray after a rain, so the sand/soil is wet and the spray soaks in better. Right between rains is a good time.

[Raystown]

Weed by hand. We weeded our 3.5 acre pasture by hand. It can be done, and it's the way to get rid of the roots. Do it after it rains and they will come up easily. I actually don't mind weeding. If I hadn't moved so far away I'd come help you in exchange for dinner & drinks!

A flame-thrower is awesome but it won't kill the roots.

[Sing Mia Song]

Weed by hand. We weeded our 3.5 acre pasture by hand. It can be done, and it's the way to get rid of the roots. Do it after it rains and they will come up easily. I actually don't mind weeding. If I hadn't moved so far away I'd come help you in exchange for dinner & drinks!

A flame-thrower is awesome but it won't kill the roots.

Girl, you're on. Come for the weekend! I weeded one morning and could barely walk the next day, which is why I'm paying the Nephew to do it!

[Equibrit]

Roundup Extended control - lasts 4 months, but is probably worth it. I did my ring with a hand sprayer (200' x 100') quite quickly with good results. The weeds break down and provide more fibre.

[Mozart]

We do Round up with a backpack sprayer. It feels very Ghostbusters.

[SilverSpringFarm]

Tordon. It's kind of expensive but it is powerful enough that it will kill a mature tree stump.

http://www.ruralking.com/tordon-rtu-quart.html

Just be careful with it and know that it's a bit expensive. Around here you can only get it at local grain elevators.

[Raystown]

Only if you can find the time to come up here for a weekend in exchange! We won't make you weed though. You can scoop some poop.

[Raystown]

Oops, I couldn't make the quote thingy work. The above post is for SMS.

[Sing Mia Song]

Only if you can find the time to come up here for a weekend in exchange! We won't make you weed though. You can scoop some poop.

No problem, I'll bring Annabelle the Poop-Eating Beagle with me--problem solved! ;)

[DesignerLabel]

I spread water softener salt in my outdoor. It did not kill the large. fully established weeds (used Roundup for those) but it seems to have kept any additional weeds from germinating or spreading into the arena.

Liz

[Flash44]

I occasionally turn my horses out in my ring if it is really muddy. They weed for me. What they don't eat that grows over 6" tall, I pull after a good rain. But my ring is much smaller than yours!!!

[MikeP]

Roundup and the other glyphosate-based weedkillers will kill most weeds if properly applied.

Follow the label directions, then wait a week or so before removing the dead tops. Glyphosate does kill the roots, so maybe it just needs more time.

You shouldn't need to pull up roots unless they are somehow interfering with your objectives for the ground.

[hosspuller]

Best results are application when the weeds are actively growing. Drought or summer heat is not the best time.

Then for the roots and re-emergence...

Allow enough time for the herbicide to translocate to the roots. If one cuts the dead tops before translocation, one gets fresh weeds on strong roots.:mad:

[camohn]

Spray em. If done properly (when they are growing and not rained on for 24 hrs) it works well.

[camohn]

Okay, so how do you drag over the dead weeds without pulling up all your footing? Maybe I just need a proper drag and not my "redneck drag," but as soon as I start, I get a huge collection of footing and it's no longer of uniform depth. :confused:

I don't pull them up. Spray/they die and I ride on em. Eventually they get ground up!

[cutemudhorse]

I got brave. . . I had been using a poor man's harrow (chain link w/a landscape timber on it) which did not fluff up the footing or dig up any weeds. My husband had bought a harrow which I thought might go too deep. Wrong! Of course it does what I wanted all along!

So anyway, I just got in there with it and kept circling and making figure eights where the weeds were, as the turning seemd to dig them up pretty well. It was fun too.

[MaresNest]

I use a combination of hand pulling and sheep.