How to Place, Move, and Space Plants
4 min read · Updated July 6, 2026
Place a plant
- Pick a plant in the palette — search, or press Tab to focus the palette and browse with the arrow keys.
- Click the spot on the canvas where you want it. The click point becomes the center of the plant's footprint.
GardenDraft keeps placements tidy for you: plants are clamped inside the bed, and snap to neighbors within 1 inch so rows line up. After each placement the palette selection clears, which prevents accidental duplicates.
Place the same plant again
Hold Ctrl (Windows) or ⌘ (Mac) and click the canvas to place the last-placed plant again — no need to re-select it. Repeat to fill a row quickly.
Move plants precisely
Select a plant, then nudge with the arrow keys: 1 inch per press, or 6 inches with Shift held. For exact gaps, press M to toggle the measure tool; Esc exits it.
Copy, paste, delete
Ctrl/⌘+C copies the selected plant and Ctrl/⌘+V pastes it a foot down-and-right of the original. Delete or Backspace removes the selection.
Undo and redo
Ctrl/⌘+Z reverses your most recent change; Ctrl/⌘+Y restores it. Undo is single-step — it covers placing, moving, and deleting, but only the latest action, so check placements as you go.
How much space each plant takes
New plants use your garden's Default spacing mode (in garden settings): Mature uses the full grown footprint; Square Foot Gardening uses the classic square-foot spacing where the catalog has one, otherwise about two-thirds of the crop's minimum spread. Changing the setting affects new plants only — existing plants keep their spacing.
The full shortcut list is in the keyboard shortcuts reference.
Frequently asked questions
- How do I place the same plant multiple times?
- Hold Ctrl (Windows) or ⌘ (Mac) and click the canvas to place the last-placed plant again. Repeat as many times as you like — no need to re-select it in the palette.
- Can I undo more than one step in GardenDraft?
- No — undo is single-step. Ctrl/⌘+Z reverses your most recent change, and Ctrl/⌘+Y restores it. Older changes can't be rolled back.