how do I use crop rotation in an herb garden?
Filed in Herb Garden Secrets on Aug.14, 2009
Becky! asked:
I’m desinging an herb garden but can’t seem to find any information on using crop rotation practices with my annual herbs.
This is a small garden, 27′ by 29′ with a winding pathway, so the beds are all different sizes and irregular shapes. I’m designing it for a school project and the information I’ve come up with so far points to not really needing to use crop rotation for herb, but the assignment asks for a rotation scheme.
Jase
I’m desinging an herb garden but can’t seem to find any information on using crop rotation practices with my annual herbs.
This is a small garden, 27′ by 29′ with a winding pathway, so the beds are all different sizes and irregular shapes. I’m designing it for a school project and the information I’ve come up with so far points to not really needing to use crop rotation for herb, but the assignment asks for a rotation scheme.
Jase
August 16th, 2009 at 5:34 pm
Max
hmmmm…I’ve never rotated any of my herbs, but as my herb garden is fairly small 6′x6′, I add organic compost every year. I haven’t had any problems in the past 10 years.
August 18th, 2009 at 11:32 am
Giovanny
Same as any other crop rotation. You divide it up into 3 or 4 fields and only use 1 per year. After a harvest burn out the field that you have just used.
August 18th, 2009 at 9:11 pm
Omar
At the end of the growing season, add compost and/or humus to amend the soil. To rotate, just change the location of where you planted them last year. I use crop rotation in my veg garden because some vegs deplete the nutrients and may leave behind a disease specific to their kind. But, I can’t understand the purpose in an herb garden. Maybe you can explain.
August 18th, 2009 at 9:36 pm
Kamron
Crop rotation is a technique for ensuring that you do not deplete the soil, by rotating the crops, you give the fallow fieldsa chance to recupperate and “restock” on nutrients that the plants need.
In a small garden, it is not necessary since you can just add a layer of fertilizer each year (potting soil, work castings, compost, etc). This ensures that the soil does not become “sterile” and can still support vigorous plant growth.
If you have no chhoice but to rotate due to a project or assignment, there are two ways of doing it.
1) You clear several areas but only plant on one of them, each year you rotate to a new plot so that each plot is only used once every several years – his technique is used in very poor soil and gives each plot lots of time to recover.
2) More commonly used is the 3/4 method – you clear four plots and only plant 3. You then rotate the next year so that one of the old plots is not used the second year. This ensures that each plot recieves 1 year to recover out of 4.
Like I said, rotation is rarely used today due to fertilization techniques, but can stil befound in some of the poorer regions of the world.
The slash and burn technique anotther poster mentioned is the method of fertilizing, by burning the remainder of the crop thats unused (say the stalk of the corn plant) the burned ashes fertilize the field.
Good Luck
August 19th, 2009 at 10:23 am
Kieran
You don’t use crop rotation for perennials, only annuals. If you are using herbs that die off, just don’t plant the same herb in the same place every year.
There are 2 reasons for rotation. One is some crops deplete a certain mineral more than others, and the other is that some plants have dieases or parasites that can winter over. By rotating you eliminate these 2 issues.
August 20th, 2009 at 10:00 am
Carlos
have a look at .. they have information on growing them