Plant Spacing Calculator — Bed Layout & Plant Count
Plan actual planting places in a rectangular bed, compare row directions and turn the layout into a whole-pack plant order.
A place for every plant
Per bed · square grid
Compare real positions in your bed, inspect the planting marks, then buy the plants you need.
Edit your bedFrom top-left corner: 6 in right · 6 in down · row 1
Plan your planting bed
Examples replace all dimensions and purchase settings. Their spacing illustrates geometry; it is not a planting recommendation.
Compare places per bed
Actual edge-to-centre margins: left/right 6 in · top/bottom 6 in.
Your plant order
16 plants to buy16 planted across 1 bed + 0 spare + 0 pack surplus = 16 packs of 1
Planting coordinates by row
Start at the top-left bed corner. Pair each X coordinate with the Y coordinate in the same position in its row. Marks are rounded to five decimal places; measure from the origin, not by repeatedly stepping off a rounded gap.
| Row | Plants | X · right | Y · down |
|---|
How many plants fit in a bed?
Count actual planting centres within the edge setback. In a 4 × 4 ft bed with 12 in centre spacing and a 6 in setback, the centres lie at 6, 18, 30 and 42 inches on each axis: four rows of four, or 16 plants. The same bed fits 14 positions in the triangular row layouts shown here.
Why does triangular spacing not always fit more?
Its row separation is spacing × √3 ÷ 2, and alternate rows shift by half the spacing. In a large area this uses space efficiently, but a finite edge can remove an entire row or its last plant. An 8 × 4 ft example fits 30 with rows along its length and 32 with rows along its width. We compare those two directions and two alternating-row phases, centre the point set in the bed, and use the exact displayed count. Other rotations or irregular arrangements may differ.
Choose spacing for the actual plant
Enter centre-to-centre spacing from your plant's instructions and choose the edge setback separately. UGA Extension's perennial selection guidance explains why mature size and cultivar matter. This tool plans one uniform spacing; it does not select species, predict yield or certify sufficient growing space. A centre setback does not guarantee foliage stays inside the bed.
From a plan to whole packs
Multiply the places per bed by the number of identical beds. Add your chosen reserve, rounded up once, then round to whole packs. Two 16 × 8 ft beds at 12 in spacing and 6 in setback fit 140 staggered positions each. The 280 planting places plus 5% reserve give 294 plants, exactly 49 packs of 6. Pack surplus is shown separately from reserve.
Scope and limits
Level rectangular beds without paths or obstacles, one plant spacing per bed, dimensions up to 100 metres and up to 2,000 positions in each compared layout. Zero setback permits centres on the boundary. If the setback leaves a line, valid centres on that line count; if no centre fits, the order is zero. This is a measured row layout, not a maximum-density planting guarantee.
Prepare the bed
Use the soil calculator to plan the fill, then the mulch calculator for a separate protective layer. Their material quantities are independent of this plant count.
