Where to buy pecan shell mulch

Why Mulch?

What about garden mulch drives countless gardeners to replace it year after year, regardless of the cost and labor involved? Mulch:

• Reduces or eliminates weeds.
• Slows soil moisture evaporation.
• Slows soil moisture evaporation.
• Protects soil from severe temperature fluctuations.
• Protects perennials from winter cold.
• Keeps splashing mud off plants and pots.
• Forms a barrier between the soil and ground-sprawling crops.
• Gives garden beds a professionally landscaped look.

As organic mulch, pecan shells offer even more benefits than inorganic ones such as gravel:

• In summer, they extend the life of heat-sensitive crops by cooling the soil.
• When applied in fall before cold weather moves in, they extend the growing season.
• They decompose much more slowly — and need replacing much less frequently — than wood chips or shredded bark.
• By breaking down, they boost soil nutrients and improve soil texture. And because they acidifies the soil, the shells are a great mulch for rhododendrons, azaleas and other acid-loving plants.
• The shells’ sharp edges are a great deterrent to snails, slugs and neighborhood cats who regard gardens as litter boxes.

Expert gardener’s tips: If the mulch has a shortcoming, it’s that fresh pecan shells may attract squirrels scrounging for nut remnants for a few weeks after spreading it.

How to Apply Pecan Shell Mulch

After your seedlings have emerged or your transplanting is done, spread your pecan shell mulch in a 2- to 3-inch layer over your entire garden. Keep it from touching the seedlings or it could trap moisture around them and cause damping off disease.

Mulching Container Gardens

For container gardeners with no access to pecan trees, a coffee grinder or food processer will turn the shells of store-bought nuts into attractive mulch minus the jagged edges.

The Juglone Factor

As hickories (Carya spp.), pecan trees produce juglone, a compound toxic to many other plants. The juglone is most concentrated in their leaves, which explains why almost nothing grows beneath the trees unless the leaf litter is promptly removed. The amount of juglone in the shells, however, is too small to prevent their use as mulch.

6015 Las Alturas Dr.,
Las Cruces, NM 88011
​(575) 522-2852

​

MondaY to  saturday : 8:30am - 4:00PM

Sunday, & Tuesday: Close

Quality Firewood

& Materials, Inc.

At Quality Firewood & Materials, Inc. we stockpile pecan shells to sell for landscaping and other uses. Pecan shells are great for temporary event parking, mulching, burning, smoking, surfacing, dust mitigation, staining, as well as dozens of other uses

 We sell our pecan shells for $12 per cubic yard, and offer lower pricing on semi-loads of shells.
​Please call us at (575) 522-2852 for truckload pricing.
Delivery available.
Looking for small amounts? Want to try smoking with them?

Smaller quantities are available!

Bagged mulches represent a significant portion of any gardener's budget because mulches such as shredded bark mulch decompose and require replacement over time. Inorganic mulches, such as gravel and recycled rubber mulch, don't decompose, but they provide no value to soil structure or nutrient content. Pecan shells do eventually break down into the soil, but at a rate much slower than bark mulch and wood chips. Some areas sell pecan shell mulch for the bulk buyer. If you prefer to make your own mulch, you can collect your own pecan shells or ask a pecan processing facility for discarded shells.

1. Toss pecan shells into your compost pile whenever you eat pecans. The pecan shells eventually break down into compost that you can spread as nutrient-rich mulch over flower beds.

2. Grind pecan shells in a food processor or coffee grinder to create smaller pieces without the sharp edges of larger shells. This step is impractical for large amounts of pecan shells, but works well if you only need a small amount of mulch or if you only grind the pecan shells as you eat pecans. If you don't have enough pecan shells for mulch, you can combine the pecan shells with peanut shells, ground corncobs and more traditional mulch materials.

3. Spread small amounts of pecan shell mulch over the soil in potted plants, providing at least a 1-inch layer to retain moisture in the soil.

4. Spread large amounts of larger pecan shells around plant beds, using a 2- to 3-inch layer to suppress weeds and retain soil moisture. You can use any size pecan shells for mulch without grinding the shells; the larger shells might have sharp edges, but this has no effect on the mulching effectiveness.

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