When growing vegetables, it's important to take crop rotation into consideration to help reduce problems with soil-borne pests and diseases, and to avoid depleting specific nutrients in the soil.
The colored background on each plant icon in the Garden Planner indicates which crop family the plant belongs to, and makes it easy to group plants for ease of maintenance (for instance it's usually necessary to grow all brassicas, or cabbage family plants, under netting to protect them from pests) and crop rotation.
Alternatively, some gardeners prefer to mix up the plant families in order to confuse insect pests that prey on particular crops.
When you create a follow-on plan for subsequent years, the Garden Planner will warn you of where you've grown plants from the same family before to help you avoid a build-up of crop-specific pests and diseases in your soil.
