CROP rotation is vital to succes of your plants and the health of your soil. It's used for most annual vegetable crops.

Perennials (rhubarb and asparagus) aren't included.

 

Some annual crops - courgettes, pumpkins, squashes, marrows, cucumbers, French and runner beans, salads and sweetcorn can be grown wherever there's a space, but avoid growing them too often in the same place.

Plan your rotation before the growing season starts. This diagram is for three beds, but you can work on a four-year cycle if you have the room, giving legumes (peas and beans) a section to themselves.

So why do crop rotation at all? Changing crops annually reduces the chance of soil deficiencies; potatoes and squashes suppress weeds; pests and diseases tend to attack specific plant families, so decline when their host plants aren't there.

Divide your land into sections of equal size, plus an extra section for perennial crops. Group crops as below:

Brassicas: Brussels sprouts, cabbage, cauliflower, kale, broccoli, kohl-rabi, oriental greens, radish, swede and turnips.

Legumes: pea, broad beans (French and runner beans can be grown wherever convenient).

Alliums: onion, garlic, shallot, leek.

Potato family: Potato, tomato (peppers and aubergines can be grown anywhere in the rotation).

Roots: beetroot, carrot, celeriac, celery, Florence fennel, parsley, parsnip and all other root crops (not swedes and turnips).

Move the crop in each bed a step forward every year so that, for example, brassicas follow legumes, onions and roots; legumes, onions and roots follow potatoes and potatoes follow brassicas. The diagram is for a traditional three-year plan.