How To Determine the Number Of Groundcover Plants Needed
 (Read 100+ times)
By Glory Lennon
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You have the site picked out. You know you want a nice, attractive ground cover for it which will give you a virtually weed free, carefree spot with the added bonus that it will also prevent soil erosion. Only problem is you have no idea how to determine the number of groundcover plants required for doing this. Here are step by step instructions to do just that but be forewarned, you will need a fresher course on some simple though possibly forgotten math skills.
This should be obvious but you’ll need to choose which plant you want for your site. Regardless if your plot is in full sun, full or part shade, in a dry climate, or you need one that is as close to deer proof as possible or for a fragrance garden or you just want something a bit different, you’ll be able to find something to please you and suit your landscape in particular.
Once you pick out the perfect groundcover you’ll have to learn how it will grow, how quickly it spreads and whether it tends to be excessively invasive. It is the simultaneous blessing and curse of the groundcover that its ability to spread quickly and thickly is also what might prevent some people from planting them in their well-ordered gardens. Some plants, as every experienced gardener can tell you, can become a nuisance with its tenacity. These plants can spread so much that they literally choke out other plants and even escape the flower bed entirely to root itself in driveways, walkways and lawns. If you’ve ever planted any mint or any self-sowing annual or perennial you’ll know the story.
If your site is strictly for the groundcover with no other plants to worry about this propensity towards invasiveness need not matter nor be a problem. But if you are planning on having it grow amongst other plants it might be unless you intend to do some extensive weeding in future. That is one way to share your garden’s bounty by “weeding out” undesirable plants and giving them away. Of course, common courtesy behooves you to tell whomever you bestow this bounty on of the plant’s true nature.
To find out if a plant is very likely to become a bother to you you’ll have to either ask someone who has grown it themselves or ask a person at the garden center. Assuming you can find one with knowledgeable people you’ll have to remember they will want to sell you as many plants as they can so they might down play how quickly you can expect the ground cover to completely cover your site. They probably won’t say the “I” word, invasive if they can help it. Look for clue words like spreads quickly or fast growing.
If that doesn’t help, you could always look at mail order catalogues for groundcover plant descriptions, again looking for key words which mean “invasive” but somehow sound better as covers ground fast, spreads rapidly or grows quickly.
With measuring tape in hand, go out and take precise length and width measurements of the area in question. Don’t worry if it isn’t exactly rectangle. Now for some long-ago learned and possibly forgotten math you’ll need to determine the square footage of the area. Don’t worry, it’s not that difficult. Just remember Length x Width = Area.
For an example let’s say the plot measures 3 feet long by 3 feet wide. Multiply those two numbers ( 3x3= 9) and you have 9 square feet. This number works fine if you want a groundcover that grows in feet such as Blue Rug Juniper. This hardy ground-hugging shrub can grow to cover 5 square feet. In our imaginary 3x3 spot we would only need two such plants for full coverage.
But what if you have a ground cover which has a spread of only 8-10 inches such as the Ajuga “Dixie Cup”? You’ll need to convert square feet to square inches. To do this we multiply the plant’s dimensions, 8 inches wide by 8 inched long to make each plant 64 square inches, (8x8 = 64).
Now we have to convert our 9 square foot plot into inches too. Each square foot, 12 inches multiplied by 12 inches, is 144 square inches. (12x12=144). 144 square inches multiplied by 9 square feet equals 1,296 square inches (144 x 9 =1,296).
To determine how many 8 inch square Ajuga plants you will need you divide the square footage of the area to be planted by the plant’s square inches. In our imaginary case 1,296 square inches divided by 64 square inches = 20.25 plants. We can either round up or down at this point and get 20 or 21 plants for our 3x3 spot. Taking into account Ajuga’s range of growth being 8-10 inches square we can round down and still be safely in the correct range for complete coverage and still give the plants some room to grow.
Let’s try another ground cover just to make certain you got it. Daylily can get 12-18 inches wide. Assuming they are likely to grow quickly because they always do we will take the higher number. Converting to square inches we take 18x18=324. 1,296 square inches divided by 324 square inches equals 4 Daylily plants. If you don’t think that gives you enough instant coverage, you may space them at the lower number 12x12=144. 1,296 divided by 144 equals 9. At the spacing of 12 inches apart you will need 9 daylily plants. All depends how instantly you want your ground covered.
Hope all this math has not given you a headache. Use the calculator and you’ll do fine. Determining how many groundcover plants you need for your garden truly isn’t rocket science, (just simple math) and hardly anything to freak out about if you get it “wrong”. Just plant and enjoy. The plants will do the rest.
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Author Bio Box: Glory Lennon
 For amusing short stories visit http://www.helium.com/users/32782. For an intriguing novelette-in-progress visit: http://www.myspace.com/glorygarden.
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