Adding Plants to the Design

Plant placement in the Vectorworks Landmark program is very flexible. Generally, plants are defined first, and then placed; plant parameters are set by the definition, but if necessary, certain parameters can be changed in the Plant Settings dialog box before placement, or in the Object Info palette after placement. This allows variations of the same plant definition, which is an essential part of a landscape designer’s workflow. Another way of placing plants is to place “generic” plants from the default content, and create plant definitions for them later.

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).

1. Click the Plant tool from the Site Planning tool set and select the plant to place.

The Plant Settings dialog box opens automatically if there are no plants in the Resource Browser. Otherwise, click Preferences from the Tool bar to select the plant to place, and specify the plant settings if they are different from the definition. The plant settings are described in the following sections.

The plant to place can also be selected by its plant symbol name from the Plant ID list on the Tool bar. The plant resources in the active drawing display alphabetically at the top of the list; the remaining plants are from the default content resources.

Double-click a plant from the Resource Browser to activate the Plant tool and place the selected plant.

The Plant tool uses these settings until they are changed again by selecting a different plant ID from the Tool bar, clicking Preferences from the Tool bar, or until Pickup mode is selected, which changes the default settings to those of a selected existing plant.

3. Depending on the placement method selected, either click in the drawing to place a single plant, 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.

The Plant tool parameters are retained so that the successive placement of plants is easily accomplished.

Each pane of the plant settings is described in the following sections. As the parameters are defined, the preview dynamically displays the plant appearance.

Do not be confused by the similar appearance of the Plant Settings dialog box and the Edit Plant Definition dialog box; keep in mind that the plant definition parameters define the default plant settings. The default plant settings can be changed at placement if needed, allowing for variations of the same plant definition. Default plant settings that do not require editing can be left as defined by the plant definition.

Plant Settings: Definition Pane

The Definition pane can be used to select the plant definition for placement by the Plant tool. From any pane, you can also edit the plant definition parameters or create a duplicate of the plant definition, as described in Creating Plant Definitions.

Parameter	Description
Definition	Select the plant definition to insert from the graphical plant symbol list. The list displays the symbols in the current document or selected plant content file; select a different plant content file from the list browser to display additional options.
Latin Name/Common Name	Displays the selected plant’s definition information
Duplicate	Click to create a duplicate plant based on the selected plant’s definition; see Creating Plant Definitions
Plant Content File list	From the list browser, select the plant content file that contains the plant definition to insert; plant definitions in the selected plant content file are used to populate the Definition list. The Vectorworks Landmark software is installed with a basic selection of default plant definitions to get you started. Select Help > Download Content to download many more plant definitions in the free content libraries provided and/or add your own custom plant content (see Resource Libraries). Once added to the library, the appropriate plant content files automatically appear in the list browser. The list browser displays content located in [Vectorworks or User]/Libraries/Objects-Landscape & Site/Plant Tool-Symbol+Definition Library; check the filepath if the expected content does not display.

Plant Settings: Insertions Options Pane

The Insertion Options pane displays the default plant insertion settings from the plant definition. To override the plant definition parameters, select the parameter check box and enter the custom value. In addition, if the plant should be included in plant report worksheets, select On Plant List.

Parameter	Description
Custom Spread	Specifies the plant spread diameter (the maximum width of the mature plant, as drawn) for both single and multiple plant placement
Custom Height	Sets the height of the typical mature plant at insertion
Custom Spacing	Sets the spacing between plants at insertion, for the for the Poly-Edge Spaced, Rectangular Array, and Triangular Array insertion modes
On Plant List	Includes the plant in plant report worksheets

Plant Settings: Annotation Pane

Parameter	Description
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
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 Scale	Keeps the plants at a fixed size, or randomly varies the plant scale according to the specified percentage of variation

Plant Settings: Render Pane

The Render pane displays the default render settings from the plant definition. The Use Plant Definition settings indicate that the plant definition render settings apply; see Plant Definition: Render Pane. To override the plant definition parameters, select the Custom outline and massing option, and/or select the No Shadow, Use Document Preference Settings, or Custom shadow setting.

Plant Settings: Tag Pane

Set the display of the plant ID tags on the Tag pane. To create a custom plant tag, see Creating a Custom Plant Tag. After creation, the plant tag’s appearance can be modified via the Plant Settings Tag pane, Object Info palette, tag class settings, and the control point locations on the drawing (see Plant Tag Appearance).

Parameter	Description
Display	Select On to display a plant tag to the right or left of the leader line; set the left or right position with the tag Shoulder Angle.
Class	Select a class for the plant tags, to control the tag appearance (line and marker style) and visibility. The classes present in the drawing are listed; alternatively, create a new class by selecting New, or select the default class name.
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 quantity and 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, or select None to hide a 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)

Plant Settings: Schedule Pane

The Schedule pane displays the default schedule settings from the plant definition; see Plant Definition: Schedule Pane. To override the plant definition parameters, select the parameter check box and enter the custom value.

Mode	Description
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 definition or settings
Rectangular Array	Fills the drawn polygon with plants in a rectangular array at the Spacing distance specified in the definition or settings
Triangular Array	Fills the drawn polygon with plants in a triangular array at the Spacing distance specified in the definition or settings
Pickup	Sets the default plant settings to match those of a selected existing plant
Preferences	Opens the Plant Settings dialog box, for specifying the plant to place, its placement options, and its definition
Plant ID	Selects a plant for placement by its ID (Plant Symbol Name)