Yard Surface help please

[BBH]

Have had a yard built and stables etc are up but not sure what to do with floor area outside. I have the concrete base that comes out
about 1.5m from stables but not sure what else to use in middle. Have seen lots of pretty pictures showing what looks like shingle but is that practical with sweeping up straw, hay etc. What does everybody else have, any help greatfully received.

 

[Petrie]

Shingle/small stones are nice as they don't get icy in the winter, but you have to rake them to keep them tidy. It depends how immaculate you want to look!

The little stones also get trapped in your stud holes, which can be annoying!

My last yard had the little stones, and it was fine. I especially liked it in the winter. And I guess they would be cheaper, and therefore better if you've got a very big area to cover.

My current yard has a kind of roughed up concrete, which looks nice and is easy (ish) to sweep. It does get patchy ice in the winter though, and I have to put grit down on it.

There are pluses and minuses on both. If I was making my own yard, I would go for roughed up concrete though.

 

[maisie]

We have got a concrete apron (10ft) in front of the stable block and the rest of the yard is 1" ish stones - concrete is great although a little slippy on winter. I hate the stones because they get trapped in feet, walk all over the yard and hay seeds grow in them and you can never get all the resulting grass up so I think they look untidy. If I had the funds I would concrete the whole lot!!!!!

 

[Cahill]

[ QUOTE ]
We have got a concrete apron (10ft) in front of the stable block and the rest of the yard is 1" ish stones - concrete is great although a little slippy on winter. I hate the stones because they get trapped in feet, walk all over the yard and hay seeds grow in them and you can never get all the resulting grass up so I think they look untidy. If I had the funds I would concrete the whole lot!!!!!

[/ QUOTE ]


here here.

 

[miller]

We had this dilemma and went for concreting the lot - best thing we've ever done - easy enough to throw salt on in winter and easy to sweep

 

[izzyxxx]

the yard i was at had quite big stones and one of her horses had a bad foot (not due to the stones) and it used to take ages for it to painfully hobble across them

A company called 'claydon' have these anti slip mats atvertised, on an yard but i dont know what the price would be for those

look quite tidy though never come into contact with them mind

 

[Llwyncwn]

You could go for silica sand (its grey) and sizes from 6mm to dust. Stone does look nice, but like you say, hard work keeping clean. Concrete will be very expensive, but easy to keep clean.

 

[RachelB]

We have stones at work in the car park. We have to wheel the wheelbarrows across them to get from the yard to the muckheap and it makes SUCH a mess, and it's really difficult to sweep or rake anything without taking most of the surface away too!
Actually inside the yard (it's a square yard) is concrete, much easier to keep tidy although slippy at times (especially in winter).
At the yard where I keep my horse we have tarmac. I find it's slightly grippier than concrete, and although it wears away more quickly than concrete and needs patching up from time to time, it's much better IMO. But both the tarmac and the concrete are easy enough to sprinkle salt on in winter.

 

[Enfys]

Noooooooooo! Not gravel. It looks great, when it is tidy, but gets everywhere, is a pain in the butt to keep looking good and no fun to push loaded barrows across.

I worked on a lovely big yard once in Northants where there must have been about a quarter of an acre of the stuff in the yard (U shaped) I swear we spent more time raking that and pull flaming grass than we did with the horses. Oh, and absolute hell in the fall when leaves got into it too. Admittedly it would not have looked so impressive with concrete but the staff would have appreciated it more.

I would go for a solid surface given the choice. I don't have a yard at all

, nowhere to put one, the horses either walk out of the barn door straight onto the garden or out the other way onto the track.

 

[seansheep]

If you put down road scalpings you'll have to live with the irregular sizes and stoney surface for a few years BUT over time and summer sun the scalpings re-set themselves into a form of rough tarmac which can be swept but isn't slippery in the way normal tarmac gets

if you put the scalpings down thickly on top of hardcore then you end up with a 'grass free' surface

OR you can put the scalpings down directly onto the soil - about 4 inches deep - and over time you will get a grass surface but no mud

depends what you want - 'grass' appearance or hardstanding appearance

either way you'll need to find someone who does road maintenance - e.g. carillion round here - and ask for a few lorry loads of stuff to be dumped

last time I used any it was about 90 quid per large dumper truck - but you then need to be able to spread it so will need a mini-digger and roller hired as well

 

[Capriole]

we have gravel, but it does get messy because the other livery leaves a mess and it blows about, looks nice when its raked though.