Methods & worked examples
Garden Plant Spacing Calculator — Methods & worked examples
How it works
Enter center-to-center spacing, not the mature canopy diameter. A square grid uses spacing s in both directions. Staggered rows move sideways by s ÷ 2 and use row spacing √3 ÷ 2 × s, approximately 0.866 × s, so the nearest centers remain s apart. Centers are counted row by row inside the boundary.
Worked examples
For a 120 × 60 cm bed, 20 cm spacing and 10 cm center-to-edge clearance, the square grid has 6 × 3 = 18 plants. The displayed staggered origin gives rows of 6, 5 and 6, totaling 17. For a 300 × 300 cm bed with 30 cm spacing and 15 cm edges, the counts are 100 square and 105 staggered.
Scope & limitations
Higher density on an infinite plane does not guarantee more plants in a small finite bed. Only the displayed origins and directions are compared; all shifts and rotations are not searched. Remove paths, pipes and unusable corners from the available area first. Choose spacing from the plant label and mature size. The tool predicts neither yield nor plant needs. Diagrams show at most 500 points but report complete counts.
Method sources
Our original explanations and calculators use the methods above. This site is not affiliated with the cited brands or organizations.