I was a treeplanter in the 90's, one of the best because my parents refused to fund my ski winters. You get paid piecework, by the tree. I ended up planting in triangles instead of following a line and doing the default grid approach. With strict spacing and microsite selection standards back then it was a significant advantage and it took about three seasons to learn and in the end was very hard to teach or explain to anyone. I have no background at all in graphics but it was fascinating to learn that triangles are used here too to cover 'ground' efficiently.
We’re triangular plantations really interesting compared to grid? Unless you dealt with triangles of variable sizes (which sounds a pain to manage).
A triangular/hexagonal grid is the densest possible packing when there's a min-distance constraint.
Yeah in hindsight that is true. But when you're planting with this approach, you are thinking and adjusting two trees ahead in your mind and laying down triangles as you go. It's the ability to adjust and select two sites at a time that gives you way more flexibility to pick easier microsites to plant to spec in.
Not particularly, but it did make me think more than just planting in straight lines so I suppose it was more engaging. Contract rules were strict around minimum spacing and density, you were always trying to adhere to them to avoid penalties (reductions in payment)