resurrecting an overgrown sand arena

[georgie0]

We have just taken on a fabulous small yard. It has at one point had a 20 X 40 sand and rubber arena put in. The old owners moved out of it about 3 years ago and since then it has become very overgrown. Just wondered if anyone had any tips on resurrecting it!?! It is a quality surface with membrane down. I had intended to weed it by hand then maybe harrow it but i have no idea about care for surfaces!
thanks

 

[lialls]

Weed it somehow, by hand would probly be best i would guess. And then maybe just water it to get the rubber to the top and harrow to level it if it needs it.

 

[xena_wales]

I'm really not sure (never had an arena), but I think I'd be wary about weeding it in case the roots have grown through the membrane and you tear it up?

I think I'd spray it with glyphosate then just leave the weeds for a few weeks so that the roots rot, and then you'll be able to pull up the remnants, and start levelling it etc.

 

[neddynesbitt]

I'm really not sure (never had an arena), but I think I'd be wary about weeding it in case the roots have grown through the membrane and you tear it up?

I think I'd spray it with glyphosate then just leave the weeds for a few weeks so that the roots rot, and then you'll be able to pull up the remnants, and start levelling it etc.

I would be inclined to agree with the above. Good luck xx

 

[jroz]

What Xena said

 

[Booboos]

It entirely depends on what the weeds have done to the arena. Off the top of my head, if the weeds have grown superficially on the sand this is the best scenario. Spray with weed killer, allow to die and then gently remove (wear gloves!) checking to see that the roots have not damaged the membrane. If you have small areas of damage, gently move the sand out of the way and heat seal the membrane again. You need to remove all the roots, weeds, soil, etc to avoid contaminating the sand and clogging it up.

If the the weeds have grown from the ground up, breaking through the membrane or in in the sand but have burrowed all the way down to damage the membrane there is not much you can do other than start from scratch. The membrane will be in tatters, sand will have gotten through to the drainage and all of it will be contaminated with soil matter.