Tree Spacing Calculator

For a square grid, trees per acre = 43,560 ÷ spacing² (spacing in feet). For rectangular rows it is 43,560 ÷ (row spacing × in-row spacing). For triangular (offset) planting, divide by sin(60°) ≈ 0.866 as well: trees per acre = 43,560 ÷ (spacing² × 0.866). In metric, replace 43,560 with 10,000 to get trees per hectare from spacing in meters.

A 10 × 10 ft square spacing fits 43,560 ÷ 100 = 435.6, about 435 trees per acre. In triangular (offset) layout at 10 ft spacing it is 43,560 ÷ (100 × 0.866) ≈ 503 trees per acre, roughly 15.5% more.

Yes. A triangular (offset) layout fits 1 ÷ sin(60°) ≈ 1.1547 times as many trees as a square grid at the same spacing, about 15.5% more trees per acre. It also gives each tree a more even share of light and soil, which is why orchards and timber plantations often use it.

Invert the formula: spacing = √(43,560 ÷ target trees per acre) for a square grid, or √(43,560 ÷ (target × 0.866)) for triangular. Example: 500 trees per acre needs √(43,560 ÷ 500) ≈ 9.33 ft square spacing, or ≈ 10.03 ft triangular spacing. The calculator above does this in Reverse mode.

A 10 × 10 m square grid gives 10,000 ÷ 100 = 100 trees per hectare. Triangular at 10 m gives 10,000 ÷ (100 × 0.866) ≈ 115 trees per hectare. A common 3 × 3 m plantation grid gives about 1,111 trees per hectare.

It depends on the rootstock. Dwarf apple trees at 8 × 8 ft spacing fit about 680 trees per acre; semi-dwarf at 15 × 15 ft fit about 194 per acre; standard trees at 20 × 20 ft fit about 109 per acre. Use the species presets in the calculator to try each spacing.

Southern pine timber plantations commonly use 6 × 10 ft rectangular spacing (about 726 trees per acre) or 8 × 8 ft square spacing (about 680 per acre). Denser planting gives straighter, knot-free logs but smaller diameters; final crop trees are thinned down over time.

Christmas trees are typically planted at 5.5 × 5.5 ft spacing, which gives about 1,439 trees per acre (43,560 ÷ 30.25). At 6 × 6 ft spacing it is about 1,210 trees per acre.

Most fruit trees do best at 15 to 25 ft apart in both directions: citrus and sweet cherries around 20 ft, peaches 15 to 20 ft, standard apples 20 to 25 ft, dwarf apples 8 to 10 ft. Tighter spacing is possible with annual pruning, but crowded canopies invite disease and shading.

A common rule of thumb is to plant no closer than half the tree's expected mature canopy width from any structure, and at least 15 to 20 ft from foundations for large shade trees, because roots can disturb pipes and slabs. Many cities also set minimum setbacks from property lines and sidewalks, so check local ordinances before planting.

Reforestation plantings commonly use 300 to 700 seedlings per acre (for example 8 × 8 ft ≈ 680, or 10 × 10 ft ≈ 436), depending on species, site quality, and expected survival. Agencies often plant extra to allow for 10 to 30% mortality, then thin later.

Divide feet by 3.28084 to get meters (for example 10 ft ≈ 3.05 m), or multiply meters by 3.28084 to get feet. For density, 1 acre = 43,560 sq ft = 0.4047 ha, and 1 hectare = 2.471 acres, so multiply trees per acre by 2.471 to get trees per hectare.

Yes, most planters add 5 to 15% extra to cover transplant shock, drought, and pest losses in the first year. Enter your expected loss percentage in the calculator and it will add that many trees to the total for your land area.

This calculator is built for trees — orchards, timber, and landscape planting — where spacing is measured in feet or meters. For field crops, row crops, and vegetables, use our plant population calculator instead, which handles seeding rates, germination, and bags of seed.

Square planting uses equal spacing both ways (for example 10 × 10 ft). Rectangular planting uses different row and in-row spacing (for example 6 × 10 ft), common for timber where equipment needs wide alleys. Triangular planting offsets every other row so each tree sits at the corner of an equilateral triangle, fitting about 15.5% more trees at the same spacing.

Yes. The calculator runs entirely in your browser — every computation happens on your own device and no input is sent to any server. There is no account, no tracking of your numbers, and it works offline once the page is loaded.