In reply to questions about using industrial hemp for landscape applications, NAIHC board Member William C. Miller responds:
#1. Dear Elizabeth, I received a copy of your inquiry to the North American Hemp Council and am pleased to respond to it. I have pondered your inquiry to see what I might be able to send to you.
I assume that you are considering the use of Industrial Hemp for a ground cover or as an ornamental tree. I can think of no other potential use unless you want to make some type of garden furniture. You must remember that Hemp grows as a tall (20 foot) stalk and it has just a few leaves. The utility of Hemp lies in the strength of the fiber which lends itself to inclusion with wood fiber into a useful wood structural material.
With Hemp’s flexibility I suppose it might be made into a rattan type of furniture but I have not seen that demonstrated. I can see no use for the tall stalk unless you would use it much like a Bamboo Cane break for isolation or privacy.
There is little doubt that Hemp stalks could be ground up and used as a ground cover. Hemp, along with a similar fiber Kenaf, is currently used as a ground cover in stables for the bedding of horses. I am afraid that exhausts my thought processes in the use of Hemp in landscaping.
My field of expertise lies in the use of Hemp fibers blended into structural lumber or in beam construction. If I can be of any help in this field, please feel free to contact me.Good luck on your project !Warmest regards, William C. Miller, Board Member, NAIHC
Industrial Hemp Q&A 