How to Prune a Grapevine

If you want to grow grapes in your backyard then you are going to have to learn how to prune the vines. You can leave them to grow untrimmed season after season, but you will end up with a very heavy and unruly mess of vines sprawling everywhere and very poor quality grapes. Instead, with a little knowledge you can raise a healthy and very productive vine from a healthy rootstock by pruning cleanly every year.

Things You'll Need

• Pruning sheers

Instructions

1. Keep in mind before you do any pruning that the fruit for next year will be borne on this year's wood. So if you prune it all off, you will get no grapes or very few. On the other hand, if you prune very little, you will get many clusters with not very good grapes. Pruning will be the biggest requirement for growing grapes, so set aside some time for pruning each spring and fall.

2. 

   Do the heavy pruning during the late winter months before the sap has started to flow, but not during a deep freeze. Generally, this will between January and March, depending on your area. Find the old bark, work your way out past three or four buds and then trim off the rest of the growth with some sharp pruning sheers.

3. 

   Prune out any weak shoots in the spring once the leaves have fully formed and after the early bloom. This should help direct the plant's energy back into the stronger parts of the vine, including the developing grapes. Most home gardeners have trouble pruning back any new growth, but it is a necessary practice.

4. Remove any new growth after the grapes have formed and keep the vine thinned of leaves over the clusters of grapes. This practice will help discourage mold and disease from getting in the grape bunch.

5. 

   Leave about 30 buds per plant for table grapes or 50 or so if you are using them for wine. These buds should be on canes that are strong and healthy and a little less than one half inch thick. Grape vines are versatile so you can let them grow to fill out an area and then keep them tightly pruned, or you can keep them pruned back each year to be a thick stalk.

Resources

• Ohio State University Extension Fact Sheet