Bountiful cabbages, juicy melons, flavorful onions, and dozens of other crop varieties take work to grow healthy every year in your garden. No matter what crops you love, it is important to rotate the vegetable plants in your garden to protect them from pests and allow the best nutrients for growing conditions. This is known as crop rotation, an important part of the vegetable garden planning process. If you’re ready to make your vegetable garden as healthy as can be, consider these expert tips for longevity through crop rotation.
What Is Crop Rotation?
Crop rotation is the practice of changing the growing location of specific crops grown in the garden each season. "For example, if you grow tomatoes in one piece of the garden, you want to grow tomatoes in a different area of the garden the following year," says Sam Neimann, garden and landscaping expert and founder of Bleume, a plant food brand. "The best practice is to develop a schedule where every year you rotate the garden so that crops are only repeated in the same area every 3 to 5 years."
Why You Should Use Crop Rotation in Your Vegetable Garden
Crop rotation can have many benefits for your vegetable garden, such as those outlined by our experts.
Pest Management
Growing the same crops repeatedly in the same spot can lead to a buildup of pests and diseases from one year to the next. Crop rotation helps reduce that buildup because diseases and pests don't all target the same plant family groups. "One of the biggest benefits of crop rotation is that it can help reduce pest and disease pressure in the garden," says Niemann. "There are many pests and diseases that will survive in the soil from one season to the next, so rotating crops is an easy way to alleviate this pressure. "
Soil Structure and Nutrition
Rotating crops also ensures that the soil structure stays intact and it's nutrients aren't depleted through growing the same plants each year. "Some crops tend to be heavy feeders or use more of certain nutrients than others," says Niemann. "Rotating crops helps to evenly distribute the nutrient uptake in the garden and prevent issues."
Understanding Crop Families
Crop families are diverse, so it is important to consider which crops you rotate throughout the years. "When I am rotating crops in my own garden, I like to separate crops into crop families," says Neimann. The chart below is an easy way to remember which common vegetables belong to which family.
| Common Crop Families | |
|---|---|
| Solanaceae | Tomatoes, peppers, eggplants, potatoes |
| Brassicaceae | Cabbage, broccoli, Brussel sprouts, kale, cauliflower, collards, radishes, turnips, rutabagas, bok choy, kholrabi |
| Cucurbitaceae | Cucumbers, watermelon, zucchini, pumpkins, cantaloupe, butternut squash |
| Fabaceae | Peas, beans, lentils, alfalfa, peanuts, chickpeas |
| Liliaceae | Garlic, onion, shallots, chives, asparagus, leeks |
How to Plan Crop Rotation in Your Garden
Planning is very important for crop rotation. "Get a calendar so that you know when you can expect crops to mature and mark frost dates," says Eve Otmar, master of historic gardening for The Colonial Williamsburg Foundation. "Make a map of your garden—it’s like a game of chess, and this is a great way to look back on what worked and what didn’t." Otmar also recommends creating a seeding chart that describes each plant and its planting date, harvest time, seed source, seed age, and a notes section. In addition, consider keeping a garden calendar or journal. "You will be surprised at how handy it is to look back to see how you have done and how your garden has evolved," she says.
"In my experience, the best way to plan crop rotations is to separate the garden into a number of parcels," says Neimann. "For example, if I separated the garden into three sections, I would plant crops that grow well together in the same section and then rotate them together each year."
You can follow Neimann's example garden plan below to help plan your own crop rotation for the next three years.
Year 1
- Section 1: Tomatoes and bush beans
- Section 2: Garlic, onions, and shallots
- Section 3: Cucumbers and zucchini
Year 2
- Section 1: Cucumbers and zucchini
- Section 2: Tomatoes and bush beans
- Section 3: Garlic, onions, and shallots
Year 3
- Section 1: Garlic, onions, and shallots
- Section 2: Cucumbers and zucchini
- Section 3: Tomatoes and bush beans