2Green๐ณHedge spacing calculator
Work out how many plants a hedge needs, and the trench to prepare for them.
By 2Green ยท Free tool
A free estimate to help you plan and buy. For an exact figure, we are happy to measure up on site.
Spacing is the hedge decision that becomes permanent soonest, and it is the one people get wrong in both directions. This works out how many plants a run needs at the centres you choose, and tells you when those centres are heading for trouble.
How the hedge calculator works
Plants along a line is the length divided by the centres, plus one, because there is a plant at each end. A ten metre hedge at 0.5m centres is twenty one plants, not twenty. That extra plant is the one people forget, and it is the one that leaves a gap at the end of the run.
The trench figure assumes 600mm wide, which is what a hedge wants: a continuous trench rather than a row of individual holes, so the roots are not each stuck in their own pot of good soil surrounded by builder's ground.
Why the spacing warning matters
Too wide is the failure the books cause. They give the mature spread, which is right for a specimen shrub and wrong for a hedge, and you wait years for a screen that never quite closes.
Too tight is worse, because it hides. The plants close over the top in year three and everybody is pleased. From about year six they are competing for the same water and light in the same trench, the base thins, and the only fix is pulling plants out of an established hedge, which never looks right afterwards.
Before you order
Do the cane test first. Push a garden cane in where the hedge will go, stand where you actually sit, and see what height genuinely screens what bothers you. It is usually lower and shorter than people assume, and it is the cheapest ten minutes in the whole job. Our hedges and screening guide sets out the full sequence, and the plant table there carries the spacing per species.
Buy two or three spares from the same batch and plant them somewhere else in the garden. When one dies in year four, a matched replacement of the same age closes the gap in a season, and a fresh nursery plant does not.
Frequently asked questions
How many plants do I need for a hedge?๏ผ
Divide the length by the spacing and add one, because there is a plant at each end. A ten metre hedge at 0.5m centres needs twenty one plants. Typical centres are 0.25 to 0.35m for a small-leaved formal hedge, 0.35 to 0.6m for a medium shrub hedge, and 0.7 to 1.0m for tall screening shrubs.
What spacing should a hedge be planted at?๏ผ
Closer than the mature spread, which is the advice most plant labels give and is meant for specimen shrubs. For a hedge, 0.35 to 0.6m centres suits most medium shrubs, tighter for small-leaved formal hedges. Too wide never closes properly; too tight looks perfect for three years and then thins at the base as the plants compete in the same trench.
Should I dig a trench or individual holes for a hedge?๏ผ
A trench, about 600mm wide and worked to 400mm deep, along the whole line. Individual holes leave each plant in its own pocket of improved soil surrounded by whatever the builder left, and the roots stay in the pocket. A continuous trench lets the whole hedge root as one line, which is what makes it grow evenly.
Rather have us handle it?
2Green designs, builds and maintains gardens across Paarl and the Winelands.
Request a free quote โ