Hi, My wife and I were given a 3-4 foot scrawny grape vine that wasn't able to grow in a colleague's garden and I planted it in my back yard with only minimal thought - training it along my fence. 4 years and 2 kids later (after much neglect I must add (see the 2 kids later ;)) the vine has grown into a monster . The 'trunk' is strong and thick and the vine grows lush and dense along the fence for about 14 ft in one direction and up the face of the garage to the peak - another 12 ft in the other direction. We don't know what type of grapes they are but we did have fruit for the past couple years - some sweetish some sour. We really like having the vine in our back yard but something really has to be done to get it organized. This is where I have started to build an arbor that will go over my back walkway from the house to the garage. Now, here comes my dilemma and questions! To get the vines growing on the arbor i believe i need to cut back the existing vines quite a bit - partly to install the arbor and partly to get the vines to start training up to the bed. 1. How to cut back/prune the vines properly? Do I have to cut it all the way back close to the start or do i prune the 'tributaries?' and leave a long single vine in each direction? 2. There is a low strong thick branch off the main trunk - do I cut this off or cut it back and start training it vertically to get up to the arbor bed? 3. Is there a service at the University (or ..?) that I can hire to help prune this properly? 4. Since it's grown so crazily and for so long, would it be better for me to take the entire vine out and start again from scratch and train a new vine up to the arbor from the start? 5. Should I try to train the existing vine up to the arbor and plant a new vine as well to get a good coverage of the arbor? (do they compete or cause any issues?) or will 1 vine suffice. Sorry for the long-winded back story and for all the questions but I'm really new to this and in quite dire need of expert advice! Thanks! -Chris
Go to BCLNA.com and find a certified horticulturist in your area. Find one that knows about grapes. There are also many sites on line that will explain the different methods of pruning grapes.
