Spring arrived on Sunday, March 20, and with it bud break for most of the hybrid vines. The only vinifera pushing buds that day was the Viognier. It was thrilling to see this whole cycle begin again and helps me understand why people can get so passionate about grapevines.
It was a warm day in February when I took my pruning shears and trimmed the growth from last year, doing my best to follow the instructions in the books and articles on the topic. It wasn't really as hard or complicated as I expected, and I felt no remorse in lopping off 80 percent of last-year's growth. I have always been an enthusiastic pruner with my trees, shrubs and herbs, liberally cutting back the growth to shape, control and encourage desirable growth. This practice has even greater importance in this application because grapes bear fruit only on new wood.
It all happened by accident when I took the pruners and started experimenting on the first vine. I experimented on one of the vigorous vines, felt comfortable with the outcome, then moved on to the next vine. Before I knew it, all 100 vines were looking neat and trim. In less than two hours, every vine got its haircut in preparation for this first day of Spring.
The trellis work started shortly thereafter when I set the first end post. I toyed with several options, including my affair with the steel end post driven to depth with the front end loader on my tractor. Those post, desirable as they are, cost twice as much as the treated wooden posts readily available around here. I opted for 8-ft. treated wooden posts from Tractor Supply, set at about a 75-degree angle. Most references suggest 60-degree angle setting up an equilateral triangle with the tie-back post anchor.
In my case, however, I augered a 12-in. hole 24 inches deep and set the post at the vine side of the hole. When the post was allowed to tilt back, it created an angle of about 75 degrees, although I have yet to measure it.
The posts were set by tamping a small amount of soil to hold the post steady, then dumping a 60-lb. bag of dry Sackrete into the hole. I used the same heavy steel bar to tamp the Sackrete, then covered with soil and tamped with the bar. Concrete is hygroscopic, and will absorb water from the soil to set up.
After the posts were set, I augered a 9-in. hole 24 inches deep, 60 inches away from the post. I installed 30-in. end anchors with a 4-in. helical plate, leaning the anchor from the far side of the hole towards the post. I used a large screw driver as a lever in the anchor eye to twist the rod into the ground so that the eye was just above ground level. This arrangement put the eye about 53 inches from the base of the post. I filled the hole with an 80-lb bag of Sackrete, which completely fills the hole. The downside is the extra 20-lbs. make the bags really heavy for an old man like me.
My trellis work was interrupted for two weekends while I planted another 105 vines. After the losses of all but three Norton vines last year--which I dug up and saved in pots for later planting--it brings my total to 199 vines.
It is now May 12, and I finally got all the end posts and 21 of the line posts set. I still have 33 more line posts to drive, which I will start on this weekend. I will be stringing wire before the weekend is over. The trellis construction has been a pretty big chore, but the end of this task is in sight.
It was a warm day in February when I took my pruning shears and trimmed the growth from last year, doing my best to follow the instructions in the books and articles on the topic. It wasn't really as hard or complicated as I expected, and I felt no remorse in lopping off 80 percent of last-year's growth. I have always been an enthusiastic pruner with my trees, shrubs and herbs, liberally cutting back the growth to shape, control and encourage desirable growth. This practice has even greater importance in this application because grapes bear fruit only on new wood.
It all happened by accident when I took the pruners and started experimenting on the first vine. I experimented on one of the vigorous vines, felt comfortable with the outcome, then moved on to the next vine. Before I knew it, all 100 vines were looking neat and trim. In less than two hours, every vine got its haircut in preparation for this first day of Spring.
The trellis work started shortly thereafter when I set the first end post. I toyed with several options, including my affair with the steel end post driven to depth with the front end loader on my tractor. Those post, desirable as they are, cost twice as much as the treated wooden posts readily available around here. I opted for 8-ft. treated wooden posts from Tractor Supply, set at about a 75-degree angle. Most references suggest 60-degree angle setting up an equilateral triangle with the tie-back post anchor.
In my case, however, I augered a 12-in. hole 24 inches deep and set the post at the vine side of the hole. When the post was allowed to tilt back, it created an angle of about 75 degrees, although I have yet to measure it.
The posts were set by tamping a small amount of soil to hold the post steady, then dumping a 60-lb. bag of dry Sackrete into the hole. I used the same heavy steel bar to tamp the Sackrete, then covered with soil and tamped with the bar. Concrete is hygroscopic, and will absorb water from the soil to set up.
After the posts were set, I augered a 9-in. hole 24 inches deep, 60 inches away from the post. I installed 30-in. end anchors with a 4-in. helical plate, leaning the anchor from the far side of the hole towards the post. I used a large screw driver as a lever in the anchor eye to twist the rod into the ground so that the eye was just above ground level. This arrangement put the eye about 53 inches from the base of the post. I filled the hole with an 80-lb bag of Sackrete, which completely fills the hole. The downside is the extra 20-lbs. make the bags really heavy for an old man like me.
My trellis work was interrupted for two weekends while I planted another 105 vines. After the losses of all but three Norton vines last year--which I dug up and saved in pots for later planting--it brings my total to 199 vines.
It is now May 12, and I finally got all the end posts and 21 of the line posts set. I still have 33 more line posts to drive, which I will start on this weekend. I will be stringing wire before the weekend is over. The trellis construction has been a pretty big chore, but the end of this task is in sight.
Comments
Post a Comment