How to Prune Grape Vines The Easy Way

Clipping a grape vine shoot to two buds

Why should grape vines be pruned and how is it done? Basically, pruning grapes annually will allow for a healthy, balanced plant. And since the grapes are produced on the new growth off of one year old wood, you will want to keep a nice neat supply of fruit-bearing wood growing each year. Although there are detailed books written on the subject of grape vine pruning, the ordinary home gardener can prune grapes in a more simplified manner. Here are some tips on how to prune grape vines the easy way.

Instructions

1. The main reasons for pruning grape vines are to control the crop size, the quality of the grapes and to keep the growth of the vines attractive and manageable.

2. 

   There are experts on grape pruning who have this worked out to an exact science by counting each bud on every branch. There are many detailed instructions for the accurate way to prune grape vines. I probably will not be popular with these folks for the advice I'm giving here, but I have had more than ample success over many years without being so careful. For the average home gardener these tips should work fine.

3. 

   In warmer climates you can pretty much cut back your vines anytime after leaf loss in the autumn and before buds break into growth in the spring. In colder climates it is probably better to wait until later winter -- but before any spring growth -- to prune. This is so the vines will not be stimulated to grow too early and get nipped by a late frost.

4. 

   Most grape vines are trained by spurs or canes. There are three accepted methods of spur training; head-trained, spur-pruned vines, and cordon trained. Yet rather than breaking this down -- remember I said this is pruning the EASY way -- I find simply cutting back a two-year-old or older grape vine to a basic framework does a perfectly fine job. For more exacting information please check the links in Resources below.

5. 

   Make your cuts on an angle to keep moisture from setting on the ends. Cut your vine back hard. (Wine grapes are usually cut back even more severely than table grapes.) Leave the main, two year old stem and wood as your basic framework. Then allow two or three of the longer 'lateral' branches of last year's growth to form the rest of the simple framework. The rest of the growth can be pruned right back to the knobby clusters or spurs where past shoots grew.

6. Another way to prune easily is to simply leave one branch off the main stem for every 10" or so. Then shorten that branch of last year's growth to two buds per shoot. You will do this each year, leaving just the top shoot to be pruned back to two buds and cutting off all the others, leaving that knobby head I mentioned before.

7. New shoots will grow from last years laterals or from the short 2-bud shoots you left. They will smother the fence or other support on which you are growing your grapevines. Don't worry. Grape vines are so enthusiastic and prolific that even though it seems like you are cutting a lot, you will have plenty of growth for crops when the grape vines rev up in the warm weather.

8. Simply cutting back to a basic framework with only two to six long shoots interwoven and left over from the previous year is a simplistic way to prune a grape vine. Equally, pruning down to two-bud short lengths along old wood should be straight-forward. Both of these methods work well and are easy. Again, if you want more detailed information on how to prune grape vines, try those links under Resources or check under the blog, http://www.gardengates.info for more gardening tips.

Resources

• More comprehensive article on pruning grapes
• A more simplistic approach to grape vine growing and pruning
• Detailed grape vine training
• General landscape gardening and design information