We bought our home several years ago, and our neighbor mentioned that the Concord grapevine was huge when they moved in about 40 years ago. The previous owners purchased the house roughly 75 years ago and probably planted the grapes soon after. Each year, I’ve tackled one major grapevine improvement. Before we moved in, the neighbors helped lift the vines onto trellises—it had been sprawling on the ground and was never trimmed. It took me a week to clear out all the dead weight, which didn’t please the grapes. This spring, I removed a massive Virginia creeper and a rose bush that had been growing together. Previously, 95% of the grapes grew far from the roots, but after clearing out the competing plants, new growth slowed down at first. I worried I had killed my grape production, but then significant growth happened closer to the roots, and I still ended up with 50 lbs of grapes.
In order to generate a lot of new growth for the upcoming season, you must trim back your grapes in late winter.
I pruned them for the winter (as shown in the picture). In a brief period of time, we in Eastern Washington may receive up to a foot and a half of wet snow. I prefer to share the load and leave the growth mesh so that I don’t lose any important old growth. When the snow melts, I go in hard and make much more cuts.
Yeah, I cut my roses back to about 2’ to keep the canes from bending and breaking from snow weight.
It seems like a good idea to prune your grapes around Valentine’s Day, which is the standard practice for pruning back rose bushes.
Thank you, I didn’t know that!
Good. Grapes are quite hardy. It can recover from everything and is undoubtedly a growth powerhouse thanks to that large root ball.
I adore how resilient it is due to the root structure. I detest the fact that it probably lies beneath my whole garden. Although I don’t abuse weed killers, I would like to occasionally use weed and feed in the yard. Regardless of traps, my kids are frequently stung by clover because the previous owner loved it so much. It’s amazing how my children can step on evil flyers.
My new home came with a grape vine. I’m just delaying it till I have the time to figure out how to keep it up to date. I have plenty of time because it is not as big as yours.
I was concerned about breaking the vine, which is one of the main reasons my initial cleanup took so many days. I had to get rid of a huge amount of growth, both fresh and old. Don’t be scared to make significant cuts. Just be sure that the thing you are cutting isn’t repeatedly branching off. It was even more annoying because mine had been coiled back on itself all over.
Please, I would like to have this problem! I’m planning to plant it in the spring.
My grapes produce better the more damage I give them, in my experience!
Absolutely, buddy! I’m really envious because I planted grapes four years ago and now I have to wait twenty years.
This year, I only planted red and Concord grapes. You have me excited about what lies ahead!
That’s incredible! The resilience of plants, particularly ones as old as your grapevine, is astounding. Many people might assume that a plant would be severely damaged for a long period, however it seems like 50 pounds of Concord grapes recovered quickly! Did it manage the stress on its own, or did you do anything specific to aid in its recovery? After all that, those grapes must taste much sweeter!
How can you prevent the animals from consuming all of the grapes?
I have pruned a grape vine that was over thirty years old to the ground due to its training. It grew quite fine in the end. How much these things will simply grow is crazy.