If you have a pergola over your patio, you might want to consider growing a grape vine over it. This not only provides you with a welcome source of dappled shade during the warm months of the year, it can also produce a delicious crop of fruit for you to enjoy and offers colourful foliage in the autumn. Most wholesale nurseries have a good selection of both fruiting and non-fruiting grape vines to choose from.
Here are some tips on planting, care and maintenance of pergola-grown grape vines.
Planting your grape vines
The best time of year to plant your grape vines is during the winter or very early spring months when the weather is cool and the plants are dormant. Grape vines grow pretty vigorously so you will probably only need one or two plants to cover a pergola of average size, and your plant wholesaler will advise you further on this. Grapes are easy to grow and will thrive in any soil type, as long as it is well-draining. Dig over the soil adjacent to an upright post on your pergola, add some gravel to help drainage, and fork-in some general purpose compost to give the plants a good start. Position the plants a metre or so apart and about half a metre outside of the post to allow them room to bush out and spread.
It's important to secure the vine loosely to the upright post with garden string to point it in the right direction, up and over the pergola roof. To do this, choose one main shoot from each plant and train that one only. Move the twine upwards with the shoot as it grows until the vine has really taken hold.
Maintenance
As your grape vine begins to grow during the spring and summer, it will send out new shoots. You will need to remove about half of these shoots so that the plant directs most of its energy into producing fruit. As the early fruits begin to appear, pinch out a few of the mini bunches of grapes. This will encourage the plant to produce a heavier crop as the summer progresses.
In the winter months after the autumn leaves have fallen, prune the vine back hard. To do this, use sharp secateurs to remove all the old, bare vines, and cut the plant back to a metre or so from the ground. Although this does seem rather drastic, the vine will quickly re-grow in the following spring.
Although grape vines are pretty hardy, they can be susceptible to a few pests. You can keep these at bay by spraying your vines during the summer with a suitable product as recommended by your supplier.
Grape vines are simple to grow and maintain and can provide a very attractive shade solution for your pergola. Ask a local plant wholesaler, like Din San Nursery, for more information on what varieties of grapes they have available and for more care tips.
Share18 July 2016
My yard is in the shade of both of my neighbour's homes for most of the day which makes it quite hard to grow some of my favourite plants. Even though the yard is shady I still want it to have some nice look ground cover and be a cool place to entertain people. I have used a combination of shade resistant plants and pavers to create a lovely space that is good for entertaining all year round. This blog has some tips on creating a pleasant atmosphere in your shady backyard, particularly if you have a yard that is too shady to grow many kinds of plants.