Adding plants to the design

Every plant object in the drawing is based on a plant style selected from the Resource Selector. Plant parameters are set by the style, but if necessary, the default settings for certain parameters can be changed in the Plant Preferences or Advanced Plant Preferences dialog box before placement. Selected plants can be edited from the Object Info palette after placement.

In addition to the appearance and parameters defined for plants, the Plant tool can place plants in several configurations, from single plants to arrays of plants. When setting parameters after placement, an array of plants is considered to be a single “plant” in the Object Info palette. Plants can also created by drawing a polyline and then selecting the Create Objects from Shapes command (see Creating objects from shapes).

See Concept: Plants overview for a discussion of the relationship between plant styles and the preferences for an individual plant instance.

2. Click Plant Style on the Tool bar. From the Resource Selector, double-click a resource to activate it.

Alternatively, click Preferences to open the Plant Preferences dialog box. Click Plant Style to open the Resource Selector, and double-click a plant style to activate it. Then specify any plant preferences that are different from the style, if needed.

The Plant tool retains these preferences until they are changed by selecting a different plant style, editing the default plant preferences, or until Pickup mode is selected, which changes the default preferences to those of a selected existing plant.

The Plant Preferences dialog box opens automatically if you click in the drawing area before selecting a Plant Style from the Tool bar. To open the Advanced Plant Preferences dialog box by default instead of Plant Preferences, see Advanced plant preferences: Options pane.

Alternatively, double-click a plant symbol from the Resource Manager to activate the Plant tool, and then click in the drawing to place the selected plant.

4. In Insertion mode, depending on the placement method selected, either click in the drawing to place a single plant, click to set vertices, or draw a polygon. As the Plant tool is clicked in the drawing, a preview of the plant spread is displayed to help with plant placement.

In Massing Creation mode, valid objects are highlighted as the cursor moves over them. Click on a valid object to place the plant. According to the placement settings, the plant follows the path of, or fills, the object.

Plant preferences

By default, Vectorworks displays the basic Plant Preferences dialog box when first inserting a plant. The properties can be edited from the Object Info palette. See the Advanced plant preferences: Options pane to display the Advanced Plant Preferences dialog box by default.

Parameter	Description
Plant Style	Opens the Resource Selector to select a plant style for placement; double-click a resource to activate it
Edit Plant Style	Opens the Plant Style dialog box, to edit the plant style parameters; changes to the plant style affect every instance of the style in the drawing (see Creating plant styles)
Duplicate	Creates a duplicate plant based on the selected plant’s style; see Creating plant styles
Plant Style
Plant/Latin/Common	Displays the name of the plant for the selected plant style
Spread/Height	Use the displayed plant style values, or enter custom values
Spacing	For multiple plant insertion modes, select the spacing Mode to use. ● Custom Spacing: Places plants at the specified distance. ● Distribution by Coverage: Calculates the plant spacing based on the actual plant area and Spread values, and places them according to the set percentage. A value of 100%, for example, indicates full coverage, with plants spaced according to the Spread.
Previews	Previews the plant appearance
Tag
Display	Select whether to display a plant tag to the right or left of the leader line, in the center of the plant or group of plants, or to display no tag. A Center tag has no shoulder or leader.
Class	To control appearance and visibility, select a class from the list of classes present in the drawing, or create a new class
Approach Angle	Specifies the angle of the leader line, from 0 to 360°. Setting the same angle for several selected plants aligns their leader lines, for an attractive planting plan (see Aligning and distributing leader lines).
Shoulder Angle	When a tag shoulder line is enabled, sets the angle of the shoulder line and, if selected, tag display, from 0 to 360°. To display the plant tag to the left, specify an angle greater than 90 or less than 270 degrees. To display the plant tag to the right, specify an angle less than 90 or greater than 270 degrees. Setting the same angle for several selected plants aligns their shoulder lines, for an attractive planting plan.
Bubble	Specifies the bubble style, if any, for displaying quantity or optionally, Plant ID, with the plant tag
Top/Center/Bottom	The custom tags present in the drawing and the predefined plant record field combinations for tags are listed. Specify the information to display on each level of the plant tag. For the center level, select Continuation Line to continue the shoulder as a dividing line between the top and bottom tag information. Alternatively, select Set Custom Tag to define a custom plant tag (see Creating a custom plant tag).
Enable Tag Shoulder Line	Adds a shoulder line to the leader line; adjust the shoulder angle with the shoulder control point, or by entering a tag Shoulder Angle
Snap Tag to Plant Centers	Snaps the end of the leader line to the center of the plant; deselect to adjust the endpoint location manually
Display Tag Line Marker	Displays a marker at the end of the leader line; specify the marker to use by editing the plant tag class (see Setting class properties)
Annotation
Mode	Click the plant placement mode
Polygon Display	For multiple plant placements, changes the display of the boundary or center polygon defining the plant cluster shape.
Tick Style	Select a tick mark (plant center mark) style
Tick Size	Specifies the tick mark size
Tick Class	To control appearance and visibility, select a class for the tick mark from the list of classes present in the drawing, or create a new class. Select <Plant Class> to place the tick mark in the same class as the plant object.
Plant Rotation	For multi-plant placements, orients the plants in the horizontal direction, rotates the plants along the line created by the drawn polygon, or rotates the plants randomly, creating a more natural appearance
Plant Diameter Variation	Keeps the plants at a fixed size, or randomly varies the plant diameter according to the specified percentage of variation
Plant Height Variation	Keeps the plants at a fixed height, or randomly varies the plant heights according to the specified percentage of variation
Image Size	Sets the size of any images included in a custom plant tag
On Plant List	Select the option to include the plant in plant report worksheets
Advanced Settings	Opens the Advanced plant preferences dialog box to set additional parameters

Mode	Description
Insertion	Inserts a plant according to the selected placement mode
Pickup	Sets the default plant preferences to match those of a selected existing plant
Massing Creation	Uses the current plant preferences to convert a polyline, polygon, rectangle, circle, or arc into a plant object
Plant Style	Opens the Resource Selector to select a plant style for placement; double-click a resource to activate it
Single Plant Placement	Places a single specified plant at each mouse click
Poly-Vertex Placement	Places plants at each clicked polygon vertex
Poly-Edge Spaced	Places plants along the drawn polygon at the Spacing distance specified in the style or preferences
Rectangular Array	Fills the drawn polygon with plants in a rectangular array at the Spacing distance specified in the style or preferences
Triangular Array	Fills the drawn polygon with plants in a triangular array at the Spacing distance specified in the style or preferences
Hedge	Enables hedge creation for the Poly-Edge Spaced, Rectangular Array, and Triangular Array placement modes. When toggled on, creates rows of hedges along the drawn polyline; the number of hedge rows is set in the Preferences.
Preferences	Opens the Plant preferences or Advanced plant preferences dialog box, for specifying the plant style and its parameters