Placing plants too close together is expensive, and crowded plants increases the chance for disease problems in the landscape. Initial size of the transplants and customer patience in waiting for plants to fill in the beds also affect spacing. With triangular spacing, plants in rows are staggered. Spacing is equal between plants which means that in-row spacing of plants is greater than the space between rows, as shown in Table 2. Although triangular spacing requires more plants per square foot, the resulting mass planting effect is more attractive than plants placed in rows.
Many herbicides adhere to organic material and are deactivated.
Dead heading increases the attractiveness of plants, reduces the chances for diseases such as Botrytis , and stimulates flowering in many species. Beds should be checked at least every week for dead and faded inflorescences. Pruning Some bedding plants such as hypoestes and impatiens may require pruning back for size control. Others such as gomphrena can be pruned or sheared into shapes. Pruning can also stimulate greater flowering, as with some varieties of petunias.