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Developing a Planting Plan: Estimating Materials & Costs Measuring areas - Measure the planting areas for the various types of zones. Determine the square footage of each zone for calculating the plants and materials that you will need. This can be as simple as counting squares on the graph paper where your plan is drawn and converting this figure based on the scale of the plan. For more accurate area measurements, remembering your high school geometry would be helpful. When you're done with your calculations you should have rough areas determined for your different planting zones.
Spacing - To determine how many plants are needed, you'll
need to know how far apart to space the plants. For trees and shrubs,
allow adequate room for them at maturity. Some overlap is good. A
rule of thumb for most shoreline plants is to estimate a spacing of
about 1.5 to 2 feet. Plants can be spaced 6 inches to 4 feet apart,
depending on how quickly they spread and how large or densely they grow.
Here's where observing how they grow in nature is helpful. Planting patterns - A more natural pattern is to plant species in groupings of 3-5, rather than planting single species all in one row or in regular intervals along rows (such as every 6th plant in a row). Again, paying close attention to color patterns and spatial arrangements of species in native communities can provide a model for planting patterns on your shoreline. Note that costs for plants can vary zone by zone (e.g., planting small
plugs in transition zone, seeding in upland zone, or planting larger potted plants by
a path, etc.). You can always combine the different planting
options:
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