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as always, it depends. Without knowing more, I'll assume your 600 square foot bed will get 600 plugs. You certainly don't want 150 different "groupings." Some small things need a lot more to hold their own, and some things are totally fine with exactly one plant. It's obviously hard to know much about the individual plants and their needs as a beginner. Having some things throughout (like grasses and sedges) provides structure and continuity.

You can go a hundred different ways with this. For that kind of area I would personally break it up with walking paths. I would also include a mix of trees, shrubs, flowers, and grasses. Otherwise, whatever intentionality you go for will turn into a solid wall of your most aggressive natives within two years.

P.S. In the middle I might find some space for a small pond and sitting area ☺️.

You can definitely use groups with more than three or five in an area that long. I'm very partial to planting smaller natives en masse. The look can be stunning. I would repeat entire groupings (or at least colors) as you go down your path. Have you watched any Pretty Purple Door videos on YouTube? Very helpful design tips for landscaping.

We found that bigger groupings bring more intense “buzz” with pollinators, have a bigger visual impact when In bloom, playing well in the suburbs.

Online I read alot about “matrix” plantings from pros but as a DIY amateur matrix that just doesn’t apply to my beds. Ample trees & light changes drive my placement choices. An inexpensive light meter which you place & leave from dawn to sunset was Very helpful.

Matrix might apply if I replaced a whole lawn in full sun that was flat all at once. I’m leaving it to the pros.

Personally I suffer from analysis paralysis when it comes to pulling ANY desirable native. Over 20 years I let coneflowers and phlox paniculata take over a massive front yard bed. Absolute show stoppers! I let then get very thick, got aster yellows, and had to rip all out & then go back again & get the roots I missed. 2nd year on & I’m still in morning.

I temper that with not being sure what will work well in which conditions. Or not being familiar with a specifec plant (native columbine are sooo tall & lacy) zizia, ragwort etc.

Also in my clay lance leaf coreopsis, monarda & some others are double the height expected. Also, conditions (sun, water, & heights)can vary widely even from one side of a bed to the other. Sometimes one just gas to start somewhere

Piet Oudolf

I like the painterly approach that Piet Oudolf uses. My own garden is a hodge-podge surrounding the vegetable beds, but if I were to aspire to a landscape, this would be my style. He thinks about how things will be framed, how they will change throughout the year. He does not use natives exclusively, but I think his work is outstanding. He thinks in terms of how it will look. I would say that using odd numbers of plants when designing for a small area makes sense, but for a larger area, paint it out on paper, roughly to scale. Think also about heights also, and maintenance. You will want to keep your drifts of given plants somewhat exclusive, so mass planting, but they will self seed and you will have things coming up where you do not want them, potentially. Have fun!

I'll be interested to see what gets posted. I have a bed this year that'll be roughly 6 x 40 in front of a thin tree line at the back of our property. I'm including a couple black chokeberry bushes in mine (I think) lol.

Thanks everyone!

My questions would be: Front yard/backyard? Uptight or loose neighborhood? Sunlight/moisture?

From here you can design for style.

The top comment mentioning 600 plugs is spot on, but there are other ways to make this succeed with a mix of seeding and plugs to 1 gallons. My style would be 5-10 species for 600 square feet.

I have a few groupings of 3 and feel like they're just not enough. I'd do 5 minimum.

That is a beautiful large space. 9 to 15 plants minimum for most plants. Larger drifts typically work best. A few 3 plant random surprises that mostly blend in are fine.

Besides the other helpful comments, I'll add that the numbers 2, 4, 6 and other even numbers are found in nature as often as odd numbers.