Good evening, wonderful gardening folks! I have a query for the Brains Trust. I have 2 gnarled grapevines sprawled over a poorly-constructed arbour that I need to cut back to make needed structural repairs. You may not see it clearly in the photos, but the whole structure is skewiff and leaning.
I have never dealt with older, established grapevines before (I suspect they're around 15-20 years old, possibly older) so I really don't know what I can cut back without harming the plant. It struggled through the excessively dry Perth Summer, so I think the stress prevented it from setting any fruit. Or, it could be beyond fruiting age, perhaps?
As such, we have had no fruiting canes to speak of and we've only been in our house for 7 months so I have no prior knowledge of the vines' normal growth habits. Is this something I can figure out with your help or do I need to call in a professional arbourist?
Thanks in advance 🥰
by Mara_108
1 Comment
I cut a grape vine back to a stump and it just came back stronger. In my experience you can’t kill them.
My wife loved it, but it was in the wrong place.so I cut it back every year, hard. And it grew back fine every spring.
It was there when I bought the house. Had grown over half the roof. Was growing fine 13 years later. Never gave it any love, never fertilised,never watered, just cut bits off it.