I work for a company where my housing is provided. After two years of living in the house, I have finally decided to attack the side yard that is become very overgrown. Apparently there is a grape vine somewhere in the mess. I know where it is, and I have a pretty good idea which is the grape vine and what are weed vines (posion ivy, etc). Any help and advice would be greatly appreciated. I basically have two questions: 1. I have read and researched on the computer and understand that the vines should be cut back in the fall. My question is will it hurt the vine to cut it back now? I have been in the house about two years and have not seen any fruit. 2. What is the best structure for the vine to grow on? I looks like originally there was an arbor (the typical structures you associate with grape vines). Is this fine or is a trellis better? Again, thank you for the help. I am hoping to get the area cleaned up and would love to see the grape vine grow and produce. Oh, one other thing, I did try to post this last night, but I didn't see the post. If this is the second time it has shown up, I apologize. Just let me know where it went and I will go there to read the replies. Thank you! Suzanne
Pruning while dormant (late fall thru winter) is best, but now is better than not at all, just go easy on it at this point. Dormant pruning can take off upwards of 75% of the vine (volume) including almost all of the current year's growth. A trellis is simply a commercially viable arbor, performing the same function. You can imagine how expensive a vinyard could get if each vine had it's own arbor (though it might keep all our local "carpenters" busy when they weren't pampering and trimming their own crops). And watch out for the poison ivy! Ralph
Thank you for the help. I will probably leave a lot of the pruning to the fall, but now I won't feel bad if I do need to cut some of the vines because of all the overgrowth. I'm really excited about there being a grape vine in the yard. What would be the best way to try and find out what kind of vine this is? As for the posion ivy, I have Round Up and a pair of gloves. :O) Thanks for the help. Suzanne
Narroe down the list of suspects by talking to several local growers and/or nurseries. Then let it grow out, taking photos of the shoot tips, mature leaves, and ripe grape bunches. Check out this site: http://www.genres.de/idb/vitis/ In "single fields" select "prime name" and then page thru to your suspect list. Or find a helpful local expert and show him/her your stuff. Good growing, Ralph
