Spacing - Site Analysis - Planting - Landscape plants - Edward F. Gilman (2024)

FAQs

How to space plants in landscaping? ›

There are two basic rules when arranging plants in the beds: 1) space the individual plants so that they touch each other when they reach their mature size, and 2) overlap the masses of plants and connect them so that they flow without space between them. Avoid gaps or large open areas between masses.

The closest you'll see landscaping professionals recommend you plant your trees is 10 feet for small trees, 20 feet for medium sized trees, and 30-50 feet for large trees.

Spacing Your Informal Hedge

Example: You have a shrub with a mature width of 6 feet. Planting them 1/2 of the mature width apart would mean having 3 feet between each shrub trunk. While planting them 2/3's of the mature width apart would leave them about 4 feet apart.

The easy way to determine spacing between different plants is to use the average of their mature sizes. As an example, when planting a 5-foot-wide hydrangea planted next to a boxwood that grows up to 3 feet wide, space the plants 4 feet apart. Remember to measure from the center of one plant to the next.

A good visual rule of thumb for plant spacing is to plant so the tips of the leaves from one mature plant are 2-4 cm from the tips of the leaves of another plant.

Typically, you should plant smaller trees, like magnolias or dogwoods, at least ten feet from other trees and structures. Medium-sized trees, like fruit trees, need at least 20 feet of space. Meanwhile, large trees, like sugar maples and ginkgo, need 30 to 50 feet of space.

Some tree species have naturally invasive roots, like the silver maple, weeping willow, and American elm. And trees tend to have root systems that spread up to two to three times the radius of their canopy. These two facts combined mean that some mature trees can do a lot of damage to a property over time.

These are the basic, most frequently used spacing's in the square foot garden: The 3-inch spacing accommodates beets, carrots, onions and radishes. The 4-inch spacing is for bush beans and spinach. A 6-inch spacing is needed for Swiss chard, leaf lettuce and parsley.

What happens if you plant shrubs too close together? It is likely they will not flourish as much as they would if they had enough space. By 'flourish' I mean they will likely not grow as tall or as full. It's also possible, if they are of a flowering variety, that they will produce fewer blooms/shrub than otherwise.

Shrubs grow well when spaced about one half the spread of the mature size of the neighboring shrub. Shrubs that have a wide growth habit naturally need more space around them. For example, if your mature shrub is 4 feet wide, then it is safe to plant it 2 feet from the widest part of another shrub.

How to figure out plant spacing? ›

For a square bed, multiply the length of the bed by its width to determine how many plants per square foot. For a circular planting bed, you can calculate how many plants per square foot is ideal by multiplying 3.14 by the distance from the center to the edge of the bed.

If figures for width can not be found, estimate from the ultimate height. A plant that may grow somewhere between 5 and 10 feet tall might be planted about 7 to 8 feet apart. A shrub that may be known to grow between 2 to 5 feet tall may require a spacing of about 3 feet. Not all plants fit such a generalization.

Plants whose mature height is 3' or above should be planted 2' to 3' feet apart, and plants 2' to 3' tall should be spaced 1.5' to 2' apart. Below 2' tall, spacing should be 1'. Most perennials benefit from lifting and dividing every three to four years.

For a square bed, multiply the length of the bed by its width to determine how many plants per square foot. For a circular planting bed, you can calculate how many plants per square foot is ideal by multiplying 3.14 by the distance from the center to the edge of the bed.