Hard standing

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Princess16

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Due to all the rain we have had this winter our field down by the gate resembles a mini swamp (not really helped when tractor was on land trimming the hedges in Oct so ground got churned by the entrance). So next year we want to be better prepared. Any ideas what we can put down by the gate so pony can get off the mud. Can't do hard standing as I believe you need planning permission for that. So something horse friendly but easy to maintain and keep Mr off the mud would be good.

Thanks.
 
I did not know you needed to have PP for hard standing. We have scalping around our gates and a friend has a large Hard standing separate from her fields so that there is somewhere for the horses to stand for the farrier, feeding and hay.
 
Yup planning is needed for hard standing, found out the hard way!. A friend has had some success with grass mats but they are expensive to buy and only really work if the fields drain fairly well as can still get boggy and slippery on deep ground.
 
Scraping away a few inches of soil with a JCB, then laying a "Terram" membrane, then hardcore on top. Best wait until the ground dries up before commencing the work. I done this at a previous place we lived and it worked really well. The membrane is really important as you are likely to lose the hardcore very quickly if you skimp and don't put one down. Better to fork out and do the job properly than to have to keep topping up with hardcore.
When we moved to our new home, I insisted the land for our horses had to have sandy soil to ensure it had good drainage.

Doh...edited as just re-read your post and you're saying you may need planning permission? Perhaps your council mean for Tarmacadam hardstanding? Perhaps best check if my aforementioned method would be allowed without PP before commencing work.
 
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You do need Planning permission for engineering works but is keeping an existing gateway functional really engineering works,I think not!! its best to ignore. If they really want to get arsey about a gateway ,then they have to serve a notice . your appeal will count as a retrospective planning application (and you dont pay a planning application fee) .The council then would have to go through the appeal process at their expense ,knowing full well that even if they win ,they will have spent a lot of money making you clear the gateway (less than 5 minutes with a jcb).The odds are however that they would loose.There is a clause in the planning regulations which says that the planners do not have to enforce the regulations if they consider that it is not in their best interests. Loosing money hand over fist over a gateway would ,I suggest fall into this category.
 
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If you are on clay then I would be inclined to scrape back the earth, put a membrane down and hardcore on top...only real solution really.
 
I,m not sure how it works but i have heard adding sand to the ground helps... to improve drainage.... We are lucky enough to have quite well draining land so don't struggle... we have the opposite problem of hard ground! In fact the tractor has been in and out one of our fields for the last week and you would hardly notice the tracks.

I found this....

'You can also add inorganic amendments such as sand, porous ceramics, expanded shale and calcined clay to poorly drained surface soils to increase soil aeration. If you use sand to improve aeration and drainage, it is crucial to know its particle size distribution and its acidity, or &#8220;pH.&#8221; Adding a small amount (<50-80 percent by volume) of a high-pH limestone sand (pH 7.5 to 8.5) dominated by &#8220;fine&#8221; particle sizes (<0.5 mm grain size) to a bed destined for acid-loving plants is a recipe for disaster and will usually result in micronutrient deficiencies unless you supplement with chelated micronutrients. You may also add Epsom salts (magnesium sulphate) to restore a better calcium-to-magnesium ratio if you've already used limestone sands, but it may still be very hard to change pH once limestone sand is applied. Silica sand, unlike limestone sand, would be a much better alternative to use than limestone sand because it has little buffering capacity (defined as a &#8220;resistance&#8221; to a change in pH) and will assume the pH of the soil it's mixed with or if used alone, may assume the pH of the irrigation water used during irrigation.

It is important to avoid using mixed particle size sand with lots of fine sand because finer particles will occupy existing macropores air space if it exists producing a denser, less porous mixture. This will cause the greatest change in beneficial physical properties with the least amount of added sand. In fact, <5 percent should be comprised of fine sands passing a 100-mesh sieve size. Not until sand constitutes 45 percent or more of the volume of soil will the soil begin to have some of the beneficial properties of sand. Hence, additions of 50 to 80 percent by volume are usually required to achieve any beneficial effects and that amount of sand can be very expensive in large-scale operations.'
 
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