Plant Spacing Calculator
Count plants for a bed from spacing and pattern — square grid or staggered triangular planting.
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What this tool does
The Plant Spacing Calculator lays out a bed at your chosen spacing — square grid, or triangular (staggered) planting which packs about 15% more plants into the same bed at the same spacing.
How to use the Plant Spacing Calculator
- Enter bed length and width.
- Enter the mature spacing for the plant (from its tag or seed packet).
- Choose square grid or staggered triangular rows.
- Buy the plant count shown, plus a couple of spares.
Formula
Grid: rows = ⌊W ÷ s⌋ + 1, per row = ⌊L ÷ s⌋ + 1; Triangular: row pitch = s × 0.866, alternate rows offset by s/2
- s
- Spacing in feet
- 0.866
- sin 60° — the triangular packing factor
Worked example
A 10 × 4 ft bed at 12 in spacing on a square grid: 5 rows × 11 = 55 plants.
Inputs
- Bed length10 ft
- Bed width4 ft
- Spacing between plants12 in
- Planting patternSquare grid
Result
- Plants needed55
- Rows5
- Plants per row (full rows)11
- Area per plant1 sq ft
Results explained
- Plants needed
- Total plants for the layout, edges planted at the bed boundary.
- Rows / per row
- The layout to mark out.
- Area per plant
- Ground each plant gets at this spacing and pattern.
Frequently asked questions
On a square grid, one plant per square foot (each plant owns a 12 × 12 in cell). At 6 in spacing it's 4 per sq ft; at 18 in, about 0.44.
Staggering rows by half a spacing lets rows sit closer (0.866 × spacing apart) while every plant keeps the same distance from its neighbours — about 15% more plants per bed.
This layout plants the first row and column on the bed edge (spacing ÷ 2 inset is the other convention). For hedges and groundcover the counts are effectively the same after rounding.
Use the seed packet: lettuce ~6–8 in, peppers ~18 in, tomatoes 24–36 in. Crowding beyond the packet spacing costs more yield to disease and competition than it gains.
Typically ⅔ of the mature spread, so canopies knit without gaps — e.g. a shrub maturing 6 ft wide is planted 4 ft apart. Enter that as a single row (width = spacing).