Conservation Specialist
copyright 2010
Whether discussing trees, shrubs or perennials or even annuals, “how far apart” and “how many plants” are difficult questions to answer.
This is because the install size, the eventual size, the long term goal and time frame (redo’s are expensive but an option) are factors in the process. Even your hardiness zone, rate of growth, most successful transplant size, site situation and care/pruning budget need to be considered along with your personal taste and purpose. No point in growing berry producing shrubs for the birds if they have to be pruned so often they don’t get fruit!
Tight plant spacing may result in quick fill in, which may help decrease weedy opportunists and hide or shade the soil, but close spacing is expensive!
Besides the expense of multiple plants, after a while, crowed trees and shrubs begin to interfere with each other’s development above and below ground. Completion for moisture, nutrients and even sunlight can lead to stunted growth and unnatural growth habit.
Following Best Management Practice spacing guidelines might look sparse, but this will not last long. To avoid that initial sparse look, plant some short lived perennials and some annuals for the first few years. This will allow for grow in time without the expense of over-planting and subsequent thinning.
Consider plant arrangements that are suitable now and will look good in 10-15 years or longer. When putting your design to paper find the template that approximates the scaled diameter of the mature plant and draw in the circle at two-thirds of their listed mature size. There are two reasons for this; first, some plants such as trees may never reach their listed size in our tough zone second, especially for shrub plantings, I do not want to try and keep them under size by more than one third of their potential mature size, this will hopefully allow for habit to develop-who wants green meatballs?
Finally, please avoid rain shadow problems by placing foundation plants far enough from the house and its overhang so that there is adequate air circulation, good soil perco;ation and of course beneficial rainfall. A general rule of thumb is to space plants from the house by at least the distance of the plant radius at maturity. Complex or overcrowded designs usually will require more maintenance!
Contact me for additional advice and check out these links for more information:
trees and shrubs too close together Correct Spacing for Landscape Trees and Shrubs: Examples of Planting Distances Between Familiar Woody Ornamentals
Rules of thumb for volume:
overcrowded designs
Read more: How to Select Bushes & Shrubbery eHow.com http://www.ehow.com/how_5824301_select-bushes-shrubbery.html#ixzz0wKCQwWZA
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