Bark for a yard area advice

[Flowers187]

Hi looking for Bark advice. I recently took on a new land to rent which has a small open barn and a ‘yard’ area infront of the barn which is wood bark. Now this is fine for summer but I noticed already with a month of rain in feb it got very muddy and the bark turned to mainly mush (has been laid ontop of a plastic sheet membrane if this makes drainage worse?).

My plan for winter is for this yard area and the barn to be open access to the horses for shelter and to get out the mud and for hay. I can’t really change the bark to hard standing as it’s rented and a village location and my council has suggested I would need planning to change to hardcore. My idea was to top the bark up then lay some mud mats to and from the barn as a ‘path’.

Anybody got any advice on this or how I can make the bark work?

 

[sport horse]

Bark will always go mushy. Can you clear away the bark and put mud mats on top of membrane?

 

[Patterdale]

Bark will always rot down into mud.
I would get a pitchfork and poke lots and lots of holes in your membrane (or get rid of it) then just mud mat the area.

 

[catembi]

I had a woodchip arena at my last property & can tell you 100% that bark turns to mush. Even if you level it & get it topped up etc. It's dreadful stuff! I am on clay and the two things that have worked are: 1) dig out, membrane, lay ecogrids, fill with limestone and 2) mud control mats. Not forgetting 3) the horses stay on the yard in winter as otherwise my fields would turn into knee deep swamps within 24 hours.

You do need planning for hardcore but you don't for mud control mats. The other sorts of mats like the rubbery grass mats will NOT work on clay. Mud control mats were all that saved my sanity in the first winter here when I had no facilities, had never experienced clay before (previously sand & before that chalk) and I was lying awake every night completely unable to think of what to do with the almighty disaster outside.

 

[Pearlsacarolsinger]

You don't need a membrane under mud control mats. They are expensive, especially when compared to bark but you will only have the outlay once, they don't need PP as they are moveable and you can take them with you or sell them if you need to move.

 

[Flowers187]

Thanks! Yes really don’t mind forking out for good mud mats instead, I had hardcore in my previous rented yard and it cause havoc with the horses feet. Old fields flooded badly but new fields drain really well and good soil so the mud control mats instead may just work. I’ve got nosy neighbours too who hate horses so I know if I did anything that wasn’t 100% permission approved I’d get the council knocking!

What control mats does everyone recommend?

 

[Patterdale]

Only genuine Mud Control mats. Don’t waste your money on the cheaper ones! MC mats link together and form a raft almost over the mud. And they are virtually indestructible and can be taken with you.

 

[Pearlsacarolsinger]

Only genuine Mud Control mats. Don’t waste your money on the cheaper ones! MC mats link together and form a raft almost over the mud. And they are virtually indestructible and can be taken with you.

Yes, ours sound as if they are lying on top of a pond when we walk across them currently.

 

[Marigold4]

I have a turn-out area with a hard-core base and Cushionride wood fibre surface. It lasts 4-5 years. I am currently in the process of taking it up as it has turned into mud/mush. I will still replace it with Cushionride though, because most of the time it is an excellent surface. If you buy wood chip with bark in it, it is VERY slippery. Cushionride drains well, doesn't slip underfoot and is a natural surface. When I want to get rid of it, the wood fibre can go into green waste so easy to get rid of. It is a HORRIBLE job taking it up and putting it down but I haven't found anything else that works as well. It costs £1k for new surface plus £250 to take away, so £250 to £300 per year of use, depending on how long it lasts.

 

[meesha]

I have mud control mats they are brilliant and I'm thinking of making a small turnout area with them ready for next year.

I did have a wood fibre (cushion ride) arena, was fine for couple years but once it started to go mushy I topped up and the topup went mushy sooo quickly. It stuck to the membrane below and I used a backpack blower to get ride of it all. Put new membrane down then resurfaced with carpet stuff (great for turnout not fab to ride on)