Pecan husks driveway?

[DaKing]

Looking to put my trailer to work. So, when I see "fee" piles of stuff, sometimes I'll jump on it.

A farm near one of my homes is giving away pecan husks, AND they'll load it too. (Great, cause its too far from border for me to get manual labor, or hand shovel technicians) So, I'm laying the stuff out on an empty part of one of my yards. This is nice, cause I get to use the spreader gate. It gets slippery mud when it rains, so I'm thinking this may help. I drive over it to crush it, looks like 1/8th black gravel / black dirt when crushed.

I'm going to also put it at my other home with a round driveway. The gravel has degraded over the years.

I'm wondering if there are any negatives to this? Example, well it bring rodents? I'm thinking it won't last as long as gravel. And it may float away in heavy rains.

Anyone use this stuff for cover?

 

[oosik]

I wonder, are the ground up pecan husks going to be tracked in to your house? Like sand does.......

They sure look nice there in your driveway.

I also wonder - are they going to pack down? I have used chips, from chipping Ponderosa pine trees, in my driveway. They stayed put for about a year but slowly and surely got pushed into the driveway ditches.

 

[David_Kb7uns]

Looking to put my trailer to work. So, when I see "fee" piles of stuff, sometimes I'll jump on it.

A farm near one of my homes is giving away pecan husks, AND they'll load it too. (Great, cause its too far from border for me to get manual labor, or hand shovel technicians) So, I'm laying the stuff out on an empty part of one of my yards. This is nice, cause I get to use the spreader gate. It gets slippery mud when it rains, so I'm thinking this may help. I drive over it to crush it, looks like 1/8th black gravel / black dirt when crushed.

I'm going to also put it at my other home with a round driveway. The gravel has degraded over the years.

I'm wondering if there are any negatives to this? Example, well it bring rodents? I'm thinking it won't last as long as gravel. And it may float away in heavy rains.

Anyone use this stuff for cover?

Around here they are selling Hazelnut shells for landscape ground cover, something in the shells keeps the weeds from growing.

With the fall of the Almond crops in California from the drought they are pushing for the Hazelnut crop in Oregon to replace both the Almond and Peanut markets in snack products.

David

 

[thepumpguysc]

I would give it a try.. ya cant beat the price..
AND if it draws in squirrels, well, that's a plus.. plink, plink.. Lol

 

[/pine]

I wouldn't want to walk on them barefooted...

 

[Thomas]

Something better than nothing as they say,question is when husk get crush fine enough than won't you have mess to deal with.

 

[CincyFlyer]

Grind 'em up and use them for blasting media!

 

[Gary Fowler]

They may be better than just the dirt that you have now, but I don't think they will last long. They are wood after all so not only will they crush down to a black powder, they will rot within a year. I think maybe you better not walk on them before entering your house or you will have a very mad wife.

 

[Redlands Okie]

Fine for flower beds.

On your drive,
Water will float and erode away
Will decompose and just bury the gravel you have in a deeper layer of muck.
Slippery when wet
Provides better conditions for grass and weeds.
Will track into car and home dry or wet.
Will it last a year? Guess it depends on moisture and traffic.
How are you going to get rid of it once you decide to do proper gravel.
Can you even get rid of it ? If so will it be full of gravel?

Seems like a poor use of time and fuel.

 

[DaKing]

Thanks everyone for you reply's . I was looking for any negative things. So, Redlands POV is welcome (Point Of View)

I put the stuff on a field away from house, where I park trailers and trucks. I'm thinking about putting it at my other house driveway.

It crushes to a fine powder, with small 1/8th size crushed shells. Looks like fine black gravel.

Easy to walk on, soft and smooth. Does NOT track on shoes, that is, no mess. Granted, I have not tried it in the rain.

It does not rain here much. So, not sure how it will behave when wet. I did hose a section of it for testing. Water went away faster, and no tracking of dirt when wet. There are birds picking at it. Not sure if weeds or grass may grow. With that note, I put a layer of gravel on a back road, and it got over grown by grass. Granted, it's not driven on much.

If I get ~3 yr out of it, I'd be happy. Overall, I'm happy with it. looks real sharp

 

[Redlands Okie]

Let us know the results later on after you have had time to test it out.

 

[DaKing]

I'll post an update in a few months.

Here are some better pictures. This one is mostly done. Just need to rake out the high spots and crush it down.

This is a close up of the stuff crushed.

 

[Redlands Okie]

Thanks for the pictures

 

[teg]

I would want a load for mulch around the house, it looks good...

About 25 years ago, out in the country where we had some "On Farm" tests, one guy had a glass driveway. Broken up Safety Glass, had a green tint to it. Had photos of it but no clue where that photo might be!?

 

[EddieWalker]

You should bag it and sell it for landscaping mulch.

From your picture, it looks like you live in a place that does not get a lot of rain. If it rained a lot, I would expect it to turn into snot and become a massive mess. Since you are so dry there, it might not be an issue. Just like mulch for a garden, I think it will hold moisture.