Limit on Trees per "Acre"

So, since New Leaf doesn't really use acres the same way previous games in the series has, does the game still have a "X number of trees per acre" limit?

If so, does anyone know what it is?

Yes.

Something like 15 trees /bushes in a 7x7 area.

Basically, what I want to do is this:

[][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][]
[][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][]
[][]0..0..0..0..0..0..0[][]
[][]..........................[][]
[][]0..0..0..0..0..0..0[][]
[][]..........................[][]
[][]0..0..0..0..0..0..0[][]
[][]..........................[][]
[][]0..0..0..0..0..0..0[][]
[][]..........................[][]
[][]X..0..0..0..0..XXX[][]
[][][][][][][][][][][][]XXX[][]
[][][][][][][][][][][][]XXX[][]
....................[][][]....[][]
..........................[][][][]

each [] is one square of a pattern on the ground, and every two .'s is a square. The "0"s are trees, and the X is spaces that are taken up by something else. The single X is a sign, and the group of nine X's is a house.

Are there also 'dead' spots where things won't grow? Seems like I have a few spots where my trees won't grow, even though there's plenty of open space around where I'm planting.

offset your rows by one space. otherwise you'll get a grid of 9, and one will certainly die.

yes, there can be dead spots. my uber gardening friends have occasionally been able to overcome them. tactics included : planting on a high luck day, removing all the surrounding plants until the dead spot grows and adding back the rest slowly, sheer stubbornness in planting every day until it randomly worked.

hope this is helpful.