Siting for the Grapevines

11 years ago

Hi, I'd like to get suggestions as to where to plant the grape vines.

The lot is irregular shaped. The long sides are North (woods), East (Easement with low trees and grass) and South (structure/driveway). The West side is narrow.

Along the east side, some fruit trees are planted. The second and probably 3rd rows of fruit trees are planned too. The vege gardens are in the north side, close to and away from the tall trees, but far away from the structure/driveway.

In the middle of the lot is the blueberry bed, running North to South (actually more northeast to southwest) for optimal sun. There are about 2 rows with 8 plants each.

On the west side the lot is the perrenial bed, still to be organized better.

For the planned grapevines, there are two options. One is on the west side, in between the perrenial and blueberry. I can manage the space of 25' long and about 15' wide.

The second option is on the east side of the blueberry, where I had the 3rd row of fruit trees planned now. I can manage the space of 35-40' long and 20' wide.

Some of the things to consider:

1. This is for family/hobby use. We only need table/desert grapes. Not for wine making. I'm not sure as to how many plants I'll need. Are 6 grapevines enough?

2. My original plan is to use the space west of the blueberry, so I can leave the open space on the east for more fruit trees. But I'm not sure if the space is large enough to the large grapevines.

3. What support system is the most optimal? I'm thinking of double-Guyot system. Of course, I can use condor or other system. They may use more or less space.

4. I'm not sure is the height of the grapevines would cause problem for the blueberry bushes. I think there is enough room for both.

I know it is hard to plan all this without even seeing the the garden. I just hope you guys can shed some light on this. Thanks.

Comments (4)

Scott F Smith
11 years ago
You didn't mention what kind of grapes you are growing. I would not recommend vinifera as they get a lot of diseases. A high single cordon is the simplest and best east coast grape growing method since the hybrid grapes you want to grow tend to grow down and the guyot is meant for vinifera grapes which want to more grow up. Also a higher trellis will get better air circulation and fewer diseases again.

As long as the circulation is good, your 15x25 space sounds fine.

The height of the grapes should not cause a problem for the other plants, they never get too high since they get pruned back to the trellis every winter.

I would recommend getting Lon Rombough's grape growing book, it covers all the basics of grape growing.

Scott
achang89
Original Author
11 years ago
I have not decided yet on the types of grapes to grow. It seems most of the folks recommend 8' room for each grape.

I did buy my first grape vine from a local nursery. It is a Marquis from Holybrook.

It is very late to get any grape vines from local stores. I'm not sure if it is too hot to get bare-root shipped in early summer. Or I'll wait until late fall to order.

I'm open to the types of grapes to grow. I'm thinking of getting total of 6 grapevines.....
Scott F Smith
11 years ago
You could get potted grapes now, Edible Landscaping for example sells them. Its too late for bare root, if it heats up they will fry. There are many variety lists and posts here about grape varieties so I would read up on them. If you search this forum with the variety name you will get folks past opinions here on how they like that variety. You don't have room for 6, 25' at say 6' spacing is 4 vines. In theory two rows can be put in 15' but for home growers who want to avoid disease I think that is too close. I used 8' inter-row row spacing and regretted it and relocated things. Between vines 6' is fine if you want to try more varieties. Just don't let them run into each other.

Scott
achang89
Original Author
11 years ago
I was thinking about 2 rows of 3 plants each row. So you think that is too close to have two rows within 15'?