How To Space Annuals For Cut Flower Production (With Chart)

Plant spacing for the cut flower garden is different than what is typically used in a landscaped bed or an ornamental flower garden. This is particularly true for annual flowers, which only live one growing season, and many backyard cut flower growers focus on annuals since they’re easy and quick to grow.

Follow the spacing guidelines that flower farmers use to get solid production of cut flowers from your garden.

The most common spacing for annual cut flowers is 9×9 inches, though spacing can go as small as 4×4 or as wide as 18×18, depending on the plant. With close spacing, plants can shade out weeds, support each other against wind and rain, and grow taller for longer cut stems.

So not only can you space plants close together, but you should space them close together for flower production.

First, let’s take a closer look at how to apply those measurements to various types of cut flowers.

Handy dandy spacing chart for annual cut flowers

Note that all measurements are in inches, and if you stagger the rows of plantings, you’ll be able to fit even more plants into the same amount of space.

This list is just a sampling of varieties, but you can generalize the guidelines to other annual plants with the same growth habits as those listed here.

4×4	6×6	9×9	12×12	18×18
ultra small sunflowers	single stem sunflowers	zinnia	bells of Ireland	dahlias
stock	mint	snapdragon	celosia	branching sunflowers
cress	feverfew	statice	amaranth	ammi
lisianthus	larkspur	gomphrena	cosmos	eucalyptus
	ornamental kale	basil	yarrow
	calendula	nigella	delphinium
		scabiosa	sweet pea
		rudbeckia
		foxglove

Why can you plant cut flowers so close together?

When you buy an annual plant from the nursery or look at the back of the seed packet, you’ll get a recommended spacing to allow for the plant’s mature size. But a mature landscape plant and a cutting annual will have very different purposes.

A landscape plant is meant to stay there all season, providing beautiful blooms to decorate the garden.

On the other hand, a cutting annual is meant to have its blooms harvested frequently. You’ll be cutting flowers every week, if not more often. Because the plant is pruned frequently, it doesn’t need as much space in the garden bed.

More plants mean more flowers to cut and arrange. And as you’ll see, it also means a little less work on your part.

What benefits are there to close spacing?

Now that you’ve got a handy spacing chart let’s look at some benefits of following that guidance.

You’ll do less weeding (hurray!)

When plants are spaced with only 6 inches between them, it won’t take long before the leaves spread out and create a canopy over the soil. That canopy will shade the ground, reducing the light that reaches it. Without light, dormant seeds or small weeds will fail to thrive and eventually die off.

I don’t know any gardener who doesn’t wish for fewer weeds in the flower garden!

This will be the same for plants spaced 18 inches apart, but you’ll have to stay on top of the weeding for a bit longer until the canopy does the work for you.

You’ll need fewer stakes and netting

When cut flowers are packed in tighter than the standard spacing recommendations, they can provide a support system for themselves. As the wind blows through the garden, the mass of the flower plants provides a stronger wind block than an individual plant would.

As a result, there are fewer instances of strong winds flattening out a stand of cut flowers.

The same is true for rainfall. Flowers with large or delicate heads, such as poppies, cosmos, or bells of Ireland, can be beaten down by the rain or catch water in their blooms, making them top-heavy. The plants can lean on each other and stay upright with closer spacing.

Flower netting can be a pain to work with, so if you don’t have to use it, all the better.

You’ll get longer stems

One of the hallmarks of cut flowers is getting a long, straight stem to allow for ultimate creativity in arrangements. Whether they’ll be in a tall vase or a short bowl, you have the stem length to go between the two extremes.

When plants are spaced close together, they compete to reach a height that will give them access to the most sunlight. With more space between plants, they would have the luxury of staying short and bushy, which doesn’t make a good cut flower.

So pack those annual cut flowers in tightly and make them produce abundant quality stems for your vase. Use this article to plan out your well-spaced cutting garden: 3 Cut Flower Garden Layout Ideas (Plus Tips For Your Own)