Hedge Planting Spacing Calculator
Calculate hedge plants from length and spacing, with species presets for boxwood, privet, and arborvitae.
Returns plant count and years to fill in.
Hedge plant spacing determines how quickly your hedge fills in and how healthy the plants remain long-term. Space too close and plants compete for light, water, and nutrients. Space too far and it takes years to form a solid screen.
Formulas: Number of Plants = (Hedge Length ÷ Spacing) + 1 For double-row hedges: Plants = (Hedge Length ÷ Spacing) × 2 + 2 Time to Fill In (years) ≈ (Spacing − Mature Width per Plant) ÷ Annual Growth Rate
What each variable means:
- Hedge Length: total linear distance to be planted, measured in feet or meters.
- Spacing: center-to-center distance between plants. Typically 30–60% of the plant’s mature spread.
- Mature Width: the expected spread of one plant at full growth. Found on the plant tag or species database.
Recommended spacing by common hedge species:
| Plant | Spacing | Mature Height | Growth Rate |
|---|---|---|---|
| Leyland Cypress | 5–8 ft | 40–70 ft | Fast (3–4 ft/yr) |
| Arborvitae (Thuja) | 3–5 ft | 10–30 ft | Medium (1–2 ft/yr) |
| English Laurel | 4–6 ft | 15–25 ft | Fast (2–3 ft/yr) |
| Boxwood | 1.5–3 ft | 3–8 ft | Slow (6 in/yr) |
| Holly (Nellie Stevens) | 5–8 ft | 15–25 ft | Medium-fast |
| Privet | 2–3 ft | 8–15 ft | Fast |
| Forsythia | 4–6 ft | 6–10 ft | Fast |
Worked example: You need a 60-foot privacy hedge using Arborvitae (Green Giant variety), spaced 5 feet apart.
Plants needed = (60 ÷ 5) + 1 = 12 + 1 = 13 plants
Green Giant grows 3 feet per year. At 5-foot spacing, they will touch in approximately 2 years and form a solid screen in 3–4 years.
If using a double staggered row for faster coverage: Plants = (60 ÷ 5) × 2 + 2 = 24 + 2 = 26 plants (rows offset by 2.5 ft)
Time to fill in: Green Giant arborvitae has a mature spread near 5 feet and puts on roughly a foot of width a year. At 5-foot spacing there is no gap left to close at maturity, so the row knits together within two or three years.
A note on cost: nursery prices for hedging swing enormously with pot size, from a few dollars for a bare-root whip to well over a hundred for a mature specimen in a large container. Enter the price from the yard you are buying from rather than working off a remembered figure. The cheap option is usually the right one: small plants establish faster, suffer less transplant shock, and catch up with the expensive ones within a few seasons.
Do not plant it on the boundary. Set a hedge back far enough that its mature spread stays on your side. Half the mature width, measured from the property line, is the rule, and it saves an argument in about six years.
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This calculator runs entirely in your browser, so the numbers you enter stay on your device. The math behind it is written by hand and tested against worked examples and standard references before the page goes live.
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