Planning for crop rotation is a must for any home gardener and will help with the health and productivity of your garden year after year. From container gardening, raised beds, or garden beds, crop rotation plays an important role in the success of your home garden. The practice of crop rotation has been found throughout human history in agriculture.
What is crop rotation
and why is it so important?
Crop rotation is simply changing the location where you
grow plants within a family, every season. The practice of crop rotation each
season will help maintain the health of your soil and reduce the risk of plant
diseases and pests associated in certain plant families. For effective crop
rotation, a plant family should not be planted in the same area for a minimum
of three to four years.
What
is an example of a basic four method rotation plan?
For a home garden with four garden spaces, here is an
example of growing four categories of plants by legume, root, leaf, and fruit.
Each growing season the category of plants are rotated to the next garden space,
going right to left in the diagram shown below.
For home gardeners with more space, rotation by family is
another option for more complex crop planning. Here is a table of common vegetables
and their plant family classifications:
To help keep track of your
garden’s crop rotation plan, it is important to keep a yearly garden map or
journal where plants are located. It can
be difficult to remember plant locations by year three or four; so keeping a
record is important for implementing a successful crop rotation plan.Although crop rotations for a small garden can be a challenge, ensuring plant families are not grown in the same area each year will lead towards a healthier and more productive garden.
Crop Rotation in the Vegetable GardenAgricultural Technology
Using Crop Rotation in Home Vegetable Garden