No matter how a figure is made, all will be able to be clustered to have quantity properties needed for Auto-counting during the Softscape Labeling process. However, if you wish to have a figure that is going to be trimmed during the clustering process, it must have a Cluster Layer ring.
Not all figures have or need such a ring—for example, the third figure in the previous illustration (the ornamental grass figure). Since the figure has no Cluster Layer ring, when the ornamental grass figures are clustered together into groups in a drawing, there are no visual changes in the appearance of the figures. However, when the [Auto-count] command is used during the Softscape Labeling process the total number of grasses that will be calculated will be those that are part of the group. If you wish to have your new shrub figures blend when they are clustered, then you must include a proper cluster ring in the new figure.