Rotational Planting and Companion Planting Methods in the Vegetable Garden - Royal Tasmanian Botanical Gardens

1. ROYAL TASMANIAN BOTANICAL GARDENS FAC T S H E E T
Rotational Planting in
the Vegetable Garden
Crop rotation plays an integral role in companion planting and
organic gardening. The method is usually applied to growing of
vegetables but there are advantages to using this method when
growing annual flowers.
Common sense plays a large part in A leafy crop (silverbeet, cabbage, Further Reading
its principles. If the same crops are lettuce) grows well in nitrogen rich
grown in the same patch of soil year soil so should follow a legume crop. The Royal Tasmanian Botanical
after year, there will be a gradual Gardens has the following fact
The smaller the garden, the more sheets available:
decline of health, loss of yield
impractical it becomes to follow a
and weeds and diseases will take • Planting for Success
rotational plan rigidly, but the basic
advantage of the weakened crop
aim is to satisfy the manurial needs
and exhausted soil.
of each vegetable and to help it • Organic Gardening
Introducing a rotational crop, in resist pests and diseases. • How to Garden without
conjunction with organic gardening
and companion planting methods,
Wasting Water
restores the physical structure and Brassica (Cruciferae) • Peter Cundall’s Vegie Patch
nutrient balance of the soil. Weeds
are weakened and less likely to Brussel Sprouts, cabbage, broccoli, Whilst you are in the Gardens,
establish if there is disruption to calabrese, cauliflower, kale, radish please visit Pete’s Vegie Patch, which
their cycle and the host plant is swede, turnip makes use of crop rotation and
moved around. organic gardening principles. The
Legumes (Leguminosae) Visitor Centre has maps available
Vegetable families Pea, bean (broad, French and and can provide directions.
The groups of vegetables given runner)
below are organised according to Potato family (Solanaceae)
botanical families. When planning
a crop rotation, keep vegetables Tomato, potato, capsicums,
in the same family together and eggplant
“rotate” them so they grow in
different ground in subsequent Daisy family (Compositae)
years. Lettuce, chicory, endive, salsify
A common crop rotation follows Onion family (Alliaicae)
the sequence
Onion, garlic, chives, shallots, leeks
1 leafy crop
2 root crop
Cucurbits Cucurbitaceae)
Cucumber, courgette, marrow,
3 legume
squash, pumpkin
4 leafy crop
Beetroot family (Chenopodiacae)
Peas and beans, in association with
Beetroot, spinach, Swiss Chard,
micro-organisms, are able to extract
spinach, beet
nitrogen from the air and leave the
soil richer in nitrogen. The roots of Not related to any other vegetable
a mature plant feature small beads
of growth called nodules where the Jerusalem artichokes, sweet com
nitrogen is stored.
Royal Tasmanian Botanical Gardens
Queens Domain, Hobart
www.rtbg.tas.gov.au