We have (had?) a beautiful, very mature, grapevine here in Perth Australia about 8+ inches at the base with two trunks coming off about 4" each. It stands in in a 2ft raised bed in the garden that we are reclaiming some space from. The soil is VERY dry and sandy - you can dig it with your hands. It is late spring here so the vine was heavy with leaves and beginning to have little pre-grapelets - the bees have come. I know nothing about grape vines! Yesterday we began a big reno and while digging out the garden bed down to grade (while still giving a few feet of room for the vine to sit in) and discovered a massive root about 4" wide at only 8 to 12 inches below garden level - still above grade level - and never imagined such a massive root could be the grape vine so we cut it. ouch! The grape vine began to wilt within a few hours so I pruned it way, way back so it could concentrate on roots not leaves but I'm sure it got pretty stressed about that late haircut! I'm giving it lots of water but I'm stressing out that I killed it. And trying not to drown it. Any CPR techniques greatly appreciated - we love this vine and want to give it the best chance we can. Thanks in advance Scott
ouch! that sucks and i dont have clue what to do. this is one of the reasons i dont allow anything with a blade within 5 feet of my trellis.
yep, whatever you do, don't drown it. is it mulched well? that might help some, but i think all you can do now is wait and see how it goes. no more pruning!
Well thanks for the replies and merry christmas. The blade was easily 5 feet away - the root must have been 15 feet away when I found it! I never found both ends... Anyway the poor thing was pruned to within an inch of it's green, leaving only a fraction of its foliage - something like one green stem for every woody stem. I then put it on "intensive care" and drip fed water 24/7 (very, very sandy soil) for about 3 weeks and sprayed the leaves occasionally just to help them along. The result is a tentative success. The mature vine seems happy, the transplanted one is happy and they are actually growing a little more green. I don't expect any major growth this year but I suspect that next year they will be back with a vengeance. Here's hoping!
