After selection of a good site, proper site preparation is one of the most important factors in the ultimate success or failure of a vineyard. This is the time when changes can be made to the site to improve soil conditions, water handling, and the overall efficiency of managing the vineyard. Many experienced grape growers will say that investing the time and money in good site preparation will save both in the long run.

In most of the U.S., the best time to plant grape vines is very late winter or early spring. To ensure the highest quality vines and a specific cultivar or rootstock, order vines from a reputable nursery [1] in the summer or early fall prior to planting in spring. If you wait until January or February to order, you could have problems with plant availability and/or quality.

Establishing a vineyard is an exciting and rewarding adventure. Like all of life’s challenges, your success or failure will be dictated by the amount of research, planning, effort and perseverance you exhibit throughout the process. If you’ve read my last few articles you know one thing is certain — there’s a lot to do before putting vines into the ground.

In this six minute video, I show how to plant dormant grape vines and start your own backyard vineyard. If you want to grow grapes in your yard, check out this video. The grapes that I am growing are Merlot, Cabernet Franc, Lemberger, Traminette, Riesling, Noiret, and Marquette. Most of the grape vines are grafted but a couple of the hybrids are own rooted.

Planting a vineyard takes time, effort and planning. But your work is not over once the vines are in the ground. In order to have usable grapes by your third year, you’ll need to carefully manage the growth of your vines. The first year of vine growth is meant to establish a strong and vigorous root system and build stores of nutrients to hasten growth in subsequent years.

Vineyard cover cropping practices have been refined over the past 15 years. Following multiple trials conducted by the author and cooperating growers, we have identified a broad “plant palette” from which to choose in addressing specific cultural issues in vineyards, such as protection from soil erosion while building soil structure, organic matter, and overall soil quality. 

Weed control in vineyards enhances the establishment of newly planted vines and improves the growth and yield of established vines. Growers have many weed management tools available to achieve these objectives, which should be an integral part of an overall vineyard management system.

In this three-minute video, I’ll illustrate the usage of my absolute favorite garden tool which is a tremendous help in the vineyard. It is my Rogue 7-inch Grape Hoe. These are similar to a normal garden hoe but much heavier, which allows you to dig into harder ground and chop weeds out easily.

In the four-minute video, pruning first-year vines is demonstrated.

Grape gardeners often become confused as to what should be pruned off and when. Proper pruning will help maintain a grapevine’s potential of producing a good quality fruit crop, develop good vine structure, increase sunlight exposure into the canopy, promote the development of next year’s fruiting wood, and potentially reduce disease and insect pressure.