Hi I am in Edmonton Alberta. I just bought 2 grape wines a Valiant and a Beta. Now I trying to figure out where to plant them .. my options are : 1) the south wall of the house - windy, very warm, looses snow very quickly even in winter, ground grades so that water retention is very low . 2) along the fence - low point, water retention very good, snow piles high, though the plant itself will get a lot of sun the base would be shaded What should I choose? deepali
The south of the house works best. I have Frontenac at my place and it does very well Valiant and Beta are both hardy in our climate so will do well for you. Make sure that you mound some soil around the base of the plants in the winter this will give you some extra protection. Also make sure to water your plants on a regular basis. Before winter sets in give them a good watering this will help to protect the roots. Space your grapes about 6-8 feet apart. The best system to use for training is the fan system. If you have a look at the grape pics from Sherwood Park you'll see that we can grow vines in this climate Cheers
