Backyard Arbor Grape Vines - Unconventional Pruning Techniques

This is our backyard grape arbor that is 7 years old. Half of the vines were planted in 2010. We planted different varieties and all have been producing prolifically since 2013 (3 years after planting). In 2013, we planted more varieties on the other side of the arbor, and those vines started producing the following year.

Our method of pruning does not follow a cane or spur pruning as instructed by grape grower experts. In fact, many of our methods we use on our organic backyard growing does not follow standard guidelines. If you are looking for the "correct" way of gardening, do not follow our techniques.

We do our 1st or "rough" pruning during the dormant season, which is from November-December in our Zone 5B. This is to give it a general trim, getting rid of small, flimsy, and dead vines. This is also a good time re-train the vines around the arbor structure.

The 2nd pruning is done in April-May just when the bud is about to break. During this time, the vines are full of vigor. We prune the larger diameter canes and do not discard these canes, instead we use these to propagate new vines to give away.

During the months of July through harvest, we trim down leaves continuously on the canopy section so that sunlight and air circulation penetrates throughout.