Best herbicide for ground clearing weeds from old arena?

[cardinale]

Vintage arena overgrown with non-woody weeds, mostly grasses but a significant percentage of broadleaf weeds mixed in. Mowed close a couple of weeks ago to knock down the vegetation. A few inches of new growth since then.

My plan to revive this arena is to apply an herbicide to kill everything, then burn/rake off as much vegetation debris as possible before shallow-tilling in the remainder.

What herbicide would work best to kill everything? I have the RM43 Extended Control which is sold as ground clearing (43% glyphosate + imazapyr). Is there something better?

Location is the PNW.

[Simkie]

I use barrier for this, which has the same active ingredients as your extended control stuff.

Every year I say I’m going to use a pre emergent the next spring, and then never get on top of things that early. But that’s an option for you next year, too!

[Foxglove]

I use a Round up type product —same stuff, cheaper, sold by Helena Chemical. I need only apply once and everything dies.

[Mcl1]

Generic glyphosate is very economical and effective, just keep in mind it can take up to two weeks to see the full effect.

[LCDR]

After decades of using glyphosate, I switched last year to Cheetah Pro. Faster results, kills many glyphosate resistant weeds, and most important to me, is less effective on grass.

Use of the term “weed” varies but to me a weed is anything growing in my pastures that is not coastal bermuda grass. Unwanted drift from glyphosate application would pretty predictably kill some of my my nearby desirable pasture grass, and although I see some bermuda yellowing from Cheetah Pro overspray the bermuda grass seems to recover.

But in OP situation, I’d be inclined to go with generic glyphosate in the higher concentration listed for brush control. Then for the glyphosate resistant survivors I’d hit the arena a second time with Cheetah Pro, spot sprayed if possible.

[jvanrens]

@LCDR

After decades of using glyphosate, I switched last year to Cheetah Pro. Faster results, kills many glyphosate resistant weeds, and most important to me, is less effective on grass.

It doesn’t sound like the OP wants grass in the ring either.

[cardinale]

@jvanrens

It doesn’t sound like the OP wants grass in the ring either.

Yeah, it all goes. Fortunately, there’s actually what looks like a decent sand layer underneath the vegetation.

[LCDR]

Read my entire post, and then you will know why I wanted to spare my surrounding pasture grass. I did then recommend a herbicide combination for the OP to kill everything, including any glyphosate-resistant shrubs, weeds, and grasses.

[enjoytheride]

We just used generic round up and drug it a lot. We had to stop frequently to pull out the weeds. Once you get it back to sand dragging weekly keeps the weeds down. I only have to spray the perimeter now. These pictures are my arena on move in day, after a lot of dragging and new sand but after rain (the original arena had packed enough we needed new sand), then when I had the arena expanded.

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[trubandloki]

Wow @enjoytheride, that is quite the transformation.

[enjoytheride]

Thank you! When I want to sell it all and board I look at these pictures.

[SusanO]

Wow at the transformation! If you get bored can you come do mine? Sadly, I have let it slip, and I have weeds in mine plus grass. It seems that it is easier to pull up the weeds after you have killed them. I have two issues that make things harder. When I pull up the roots it pulls up the fiber they are growing in and pine straw is the devil to rake out of a fiber arena. I am hoping I can get my other projects done so I can get back to my arena.

[cardinale]

Wow! That’s very impressive. Gives me hope for improving my (currently a) weedpatch arena.

[Feliz]

What you’ve got will be good as the imazapyr will “hold” in the surface for up to a year, preventing regrowth. I’ve just used a glyphosate + Saflufenacil which acts in a similar way, I expect to have to do it 1-2x per year depending on how good the growing season is.

The point about overspray is a good one - the effect of overspraying is way, way more noticeable than when just using glyphosate. But well worth the slight disadvantage for the very high effectiveness and not having to do it often.

[fordtraktor]

@enjoytheride has transformed her farm! It really is amazing!

I had an outdoor where my indoor is now, and it was overgrown completely. We did a complete Roundup kill then drug out the weeds with a box grater, then a rake, then a tine harrow. It worked and you can do a lot of it with a tractor instead of manually, especially to break loose the fiber and sand from roots. I think we spent about two full days on the tractor getting it cleared out. I was then able to ride on it happily for 10 years before I finally built the indoor.