SettingsSettings for this calculationUS
Count a bed from its area, or a hedge or edging from its length and number of rows.
A bed of ground cover, perennials or bedding is counted from its area, whatever its shape. A hedge, an edging or any planting set out in rows is counted along its length, row by row, which gets the ends right in a way an area cannot.
Staggered rows (triangular) or rows lined up in a grid (square).
In a bed, a triangular pattern shifts every second row half a spacing along, so each plant stands the same distance from its six neighbours and the rows sit closer together, 0.866 of the spacing apart. It covers the ground more evenly and takes about 15.5% more plants at the same spacing; Illinois Extension recommends a staggered or diamond pattern for ground covers. A square grid is easier to set out and suits rows that need to be walked or hoed between. In rows along a length, triangular simply staggers the rows: how far apart they go is yours and does not change the count.
The ground to be planted. For a rectangle, its length times its width.
Measure the bed itself, not the lawn or path around it, and leave out anything inside it that will not be planted, such as a tree's base, a seat or a stepping-stone path. For a curved or irregular bed, the Irregular Area Calculator works the area from measurements taken along a straight line.
Tools needed: Tape measure
How far apart the plants go, measured from the middle of one to the middle of the next.
Plant labels and nursery catalogues give a spacing, usually from the plant's spread once grown. Within a single hedge row the Royal Horticultural Society gives 30 to 60 cm (1 to 2 ft) depending on the plant and the hedge wanted; for a hedge thicker than 90 cm (3 ft) it plants a staggered double row with the plants 90 cm (3 ft) apart in each row and the rows 45 cm (18 in) apart. In a triangular pattern this is the distance to every neighbour; in a square one, to the plants beside and in front.
Tools needed: Tape measure, A cane cut to the spacing
Plants needed
128 plants
In a triangular pattern each plant is the spacing from its six neighbours and has a diamond of ground 0.866 of the spacing squared, so the same area takes 15.5% more plants than a square grid, in rows 0.866 of the spacing apart. The count is the bed's area divided by that share, rounded up to a whole plant: the count for a large bed; a small or narrow staggered bed set out with its edge plants half a spacing in takes noticeably fewer, and the row mode lays a rectangular bed out row by row.
- Ground each plant takes
- 0.87 ft²
- Plants the area holds, before rounding up
- 127.02 plants
- Distance between rows in this pattern
- 0.87 ft
They open the calculator with your figures already in it
Plant Spacing Calculator (Plants per Bed or Row, Square or Triangular): 128 plants — shown in imperial, US market. The link sets both, so the result they see is the one on your screen.
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How this was calculated
Formula source(s)
- Geometry of planting patterns: a square pattern gives each plant s²; an equilateral triangular pattern gives each plant a 60° rhombus of side s, s² × sin 60° = (√3/2)s² ≈ 0.866 s², so it holds 2/√3 ≈ 1.1547 times as many plants per area at the same spacing, in rows 0.866 s apart
- University of Illinois Extension, Ground Covers: plant groundcovers in a staggered or diamond pattern for best results; Determining the Number of Plants Needed: 100 square feet at 6-inch spacing takes 400 plants, at 12-inch spacing 100 plants
- Royal Horticultural Society, Hedges: planting guide: within a single row, planting distances vary from 30–60 cm (1–2 ft); for hedges thicker than 90 cm (3 ft), plant a staggered double row 45 cm (18 in) apart, with plants 90 cm (3 ft) apart
Inputs used
- Planting
- A bed, counted by its area
- Pattern
- Triangular: staggered rows, each plant the spacing from six neighbours
- Bed Area
- 110 sq ft
- Length of Each Row
- 33 ft
- Number of Rows
- 1
- Distance Between Plants, Centre to Centre
- 12 in
Intermediate steps
- Ground each plant takes
- 0.87 ft²
- Plants the area holds, before rounding up
- 127.02 plants
- Distance between rows in this pattern
- 0.87 ft
Confidence note: In a triangular pattern each plant is the spacing from its six neighbours and has a diamond of ground 0.866 of the spacing squared, so the same area takes 15.5% more plants than a square grid, in rows 0.866 of the spacing apart. The count is the bed's area divided by that share, rounded up to a whole plant: the count for a large bed; a small or narrow staggered bed set out with its edge plants half a spacing in takes noticeably fewer, and the row mode lays a rectangular bed out row by row.
What this calculation does not cover
- A bed is counted by its area, which cannot know its outline. The count is the one for a large bed, where the plants along the edges are a small share of the whole. On a narrow strip, a curved border or a bed only a few spacings across, the edge plants are a large share of the planting and the pattern laid out on the ground can take noticeably more or fewer: a staggered bed set out with its edge plants half a spacing in takes fewer, because every second row loses a plant at its ends. For a rectangular bed the row mode counts it row by row; for any other, set the plants out in their pots before planting and adjust the last few.
- The spacing is whatever is entered. Take it from the plant's label or the nursery's guidance for its spread once grown, not from its size in the pot: closer spacing fills in sooner and needs more plants, wider takes longer to cover the ground.
- One plant at one spacing. A bed mixing specimen shrubs, ground cover and edging plants at different spacings is worked one part at a time, each over the ground it covers, and the parts added.
- Nothing is added for losses. Where some plants may fail, from drought, rabbits, slugs or poor soil, or where the planting has to fill in by a set date, a few spares bought with the rest match the batch better than replacements bought later.
- A row is taken as straight and its ends as free. A row that meets a wall, a path or the end of another row is set out from what it meets, and a hedge turning a corner shares the corner plant between its two runs.
Estimated cost — your price
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Computed in your browser — nothing you enter is uploaded. Presented in US customary units and US trade terminology. Where a formula follows a published standard, that standard and its edition are cited beside it on this page; where none governs, the page says so. Local amendments override model codes — verify against the code in force where you build.
Sources checked 2026-10-05 · v1.0.0
Regulatory standards & verification citations3
- Geometry of planting patterns: a square pattern gives each plant s²; an equilateral triangular pattern gives each plant a 60° rhombus of side s, s² × sin 60° = (√3/2)s² ≈ 0.866 s², so it holds 2/√3 ≈ 1.1547 times as many plants per area at the same spacing, in rows 0.866 s apart
- University of Illinois Extension, Ground Covers: plant groundcovers in a staggered or diamond pattern for best results; Determining the Number of Plants Needed: 100 square feet at 6-inch spacing takes 400 plants, at 12-inch spacing 100 plants
- Royal Horticultural Society, Hedges: planting guide: within a single row, planting distances vary from 30–60 cm (1–2 ft); for hedges thicker than 90 cm (3 ft), plant a staggered double row 45 cm (18 in) apart, with plants 90 cm (3 ft) apart
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