Estimating Planting Stock

• To determine the plantable area, deduct from the total buffer area those areas already stocked, anticipated to regenerate naturally, and those areas desired to be non-stocked.
• Determine the percent composition (ratio of plants or canopy cover based on mature crown width) of each species in the planting.
• To determine the actual number of plants by species apportion the plantable area for each species based on its percent composition, then divide by the area of its plant spacing or mature canopy:

Most buffers do not require planting 100 percent of the area or a 100 percent canopy cover. Consider using Montana Forestry Technical Note MT-21 Estimating Planting Stock for Woody Plantings dated March 2002 to estimate planting stock for woody plantings. The technical note is a spreadsheet that provides an efficient means of calculating the amount of plant materials needed for area plantings.

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Last Modified: 08/08/2007