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Tuesday Time to Tackle: Pruning the Grapes

I blinked and my roses went from bare branches to leafed out and budding, so I missed my chance to do a good winter pruning on them.  Fortunately, my grape vines were still in dormancy, so this past weekend, I got out the shears and went to work.

Grapes respond well to heavy pruning.  I trimmed a lot more than I left.  Here's the before:

  
And here's the after:

 
I left each plant with one main cane, with two short branches on the lower wire support, and two short branches on the upper wire support.  I know it looks barren now, but I imagine grape vines will be growing willy-nilly again before you know it. 

One photo I neglected to take, but should have, was of me pulling grape vines from the other side of the block wall.  Remember carnivals in grade school, where you would "fish" for prizes?  I felt just like that as I pulled the vines over the wall--only instead of some trinket, my prize was a tumbleweed.  Every. Single. Time.   

I'm not quite sure why, but tumbleweeds amuse me.  Gathering tumbleweeds is my favorite gardening chore.  It doesn't take long, and it makes a dramatic difference.

Thanks for wild tumbleweeds, and tame grape vines.


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Comments

  1. NancyMarch 5, 2013 at 8:25 AM

    I used to make wreaths out of the pruned grape vines.

    Your pruning will reap great rewards.

    ReplyDelete
  2. DebbieMarch 5, 2013 at 10:51 AM

    Oooh tumbleweeds?! I love tumbleweeds! :)

    ReplyDelete
  3. ChristineMarch 5, 2013 at 3:55 PM

    I don't think I have ever actually seen a real-life tumbleweed.
    We have some apple trees that need pruned, but I have no idea how or when to do it. Need to get on the ball and figure that out.
    It is amazing that plants do better when you cut so many branches off.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Kathy Felsted UsherMarch 7, 2013 at 4:20 AM

    We just did this too. Do you do anything with the old vines?

    ReplyDelete
  5. Becky ElmuccioMarch 7, 2013 at 8:07 AM

    Well done on the trimming! We had grapes at a rental house years ago, but haven't tried them at our house yet. I had a Tuesday Greens linky at www.craftygardenmama.com. I'd love for you to stop by and link up any of your gardening posts. Have a great week!

    ReplyDelete
  6. Katie/Maple GroveMarch 9, 2013 at 9:16 PM

    Oh great! That's what I did today. I'm relieved now! Just found your blog and love it! ~Katie/Maple Grove. www.maplegroveplace.blogspot.com

    ReplyDelete
  7. Black Fox HomesteadMarch 12, 2013 at 2:28 PM

    Great post. Thank you for sharing this at the HomeAcre Hop. Hope to see you tomorrow when the next one goes live.

    ~Jenny

    http://blackfoxhomestead.com/the-homeacre-hop/the-homeacre-hop-10/

    ReplyDelete
  8. Lisa LynnMarch 15, 2013 at 1:58 PM

    I need to do this soon too :) Thanks for sharing this on The Creative HomeAcre Hop! Hope to see you this Sunday at:
    http://www.theselfsufficienthomeacre.com/2013/03/the-creative-homeacre-hop-7.html

    ReplyDelete

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