Jump to content

Hedgerow area measurement


Laura Stone

Recommended Posts

Hi Katerina,

 

I'm using v2025.  The dark green shape below is a hedgerow and the light green I converted to a polyline, so they should have exactly the same area, but for some reason the hedgerow is giving an area value of 22 sq m.  The area for the hedge does display correctly in the object info palette.

 

image.png.19f3100c20bd9a114dc9d3a1a1b5852a.png

 

Thanks

 

Laura

Link to comment
17 minutes ago, HannahC said:

I'm trying to add multiple plant species into a hedgerow object and I can't seem to add more than 7 species - is this a restriction of using a hedgerow does anyone know?

 

In Help it refers to 'Plant 1-7' so yes that suggests 7 species is the max...

 

Screenshot2024-10-21at18_00_09.thumb.png.dc61f83a8ab928bb86e86ed4988c1ec8.png

Link to comment
  • 2 weeks later...
3 hours ago, Tom W. said:

I think I know what you mean by staggered rows but I'm not sure how you'd expect to see it represented in a Hedgerow object...?

Ah sorry for not explaining well enough - I mean a usual hedgerow spec is not just one row of plants, it's 2 or 3 staggered rows. So we want to draw a line to represent a hedgerow, say 100m long, have it appear graphically as it does, but then use the Object Info Palette or similar to tell it that this hedgerow uses 2 staggered rows. i.e. if the spacing is 1 plant per linear m, this particular hedgerow is made up of 200 plants, not 100 (as it currently thinks).

 

(We don't really want to have to artificially 'thicken' the hedgerow because then a) we're having to use plants/m² where we want to use per linear m, and b) the graphics look wrong.)

Edited by Amanda McDermott
  • Like 1
Link to comment
  • Vectorworks, Inc Employee

Hi @Amanda McDermott, I'm not sure I understand your query. As the hedgerow tool doesn't show the individual plants, you can simply specify the total width of the hedgerow and then specify the number of plants per linear meter. So a hedgerow with 5 plants/lm can be either a single row of plants (a narrower hedge with smaller plants) or a staggered (wider). The total quantity is correct in both situations - it's only the width that's changing. I would then specify it as a  'hedge, staggered row, 5 plants/lm'.

Please let me know if I've misunderstood your question.

Link to comment
4 hours ago, Katarina Ollikainen said:

Hi @Amanda McDermott, I'm not sure I understand your query. As the hedgerow tool doesn't show the individual plants, you can simply specify the total width of the hedgerow and then specify the number of plants per linear meter. So a hedgerow with 5 plants/lm can be either a single row of plants (a narrower hedge with smaller plants) or a staggered (wider). The total quantity is correct in both situations - it's only the width that's changing. I would then specify it as a  'hedge, staggered row, 5 plants/lm'.

Please let me know if I've misunderstood your question.

 

Hi Katarina,

 

That sounds like a sensible workaround - but I'd prefer the software doing the maths, to reduce potential for human error! We want to input the distance apart that the plants on one row should be, and input how many rows there are, then have Vectorworks spit out the answer (ideally also be able to use data tags to report how many rows there are as part of the automatic label?) 

Link to comment
  • Vectorworks, Inc Employee

@Amanda McDermott, I actually believe there's less chance for human error if you specify in staggered rows and plants per linear meter.

To use the hedgerow, you must always specify the width of the hedgerow - that's a separate parameter and has nothing to do with the placing of the plants, so you must do that manually anyway.

 

Most hedging suppliers here in the UK will have information on quantities for both single and staggered rows. Even when we do add a staggered hedge alternative, this will be the standard way of specifying it.

 

Now, apparently the US doesn't use the same system - there, a staggered row is counted as two separate rows with an offset, so a UK 'staggered 5 plants/lm' would be two single rows of 3 plants/lm. Because of this, we'll have to complicate the system when introducing staggered rows, and I'm not quite sure how this would be resolved when you draw curved hedges. It also requires you to set both a MoC and a row spacing, as these two numbers are not always the same, and if you take it for granted, you might get the incorrect quantities. 

It sounds like you would rather work with the US system. Unfortunately, this is not possible right now. If you really don't want to do it the 'UK way', simply double the number of plants you have in one row and specify that number - you will have one too many if it's calculated over straight distances, and a few more if there are sharp curves. The only time the exact quantity would matter is if you're buying mature evergreen hedging, and in that situation I would probably just use the plant tool instead to have full control of placing and quantities. Remember - as soon as you have a curve, the distance between your MoC plants will spread out on the 'outer side' - where do you want the distance to be calculated? On the inner side or the outer edge? This is the same as when you do a paving plan - you need more pavers on the outer edge of a curve than on the inner to keep the joint equal.

Screenshot 2024-11-11 at 10.34.19.png

Link to comment

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Restore formatting

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

×
×
  • Create New...