What ELSE Can I Do?

[OilnH2O]

I didn't want to hijack Appleman's 'bud-break' thread, but I'm curious if there is more I can be doing this time of year "in the vinyard." And, I didn't see any other logical place to ask these questions.

I've got the fence/deer issue covered, but one thing I'm wondering about is pre- (and post) emergent spraying for weed control. Appleman, I know you're "certified" but is there something I can do at this point with the weeds that seem to have been growing under the snow!

??

Another issue: I'm considering putting down a cedar-bark mulch for weed control between my rows (the path on which I walk) -- NOT around the vines. Right now that's just dirt (and weeds, too!) Would the cedar (untreated) put something into the soil I'm not thinking about that might affect taste/grapes? Might there be other options?

Any and all thoughts appreciated!

 

[AlFulchino]

pre emergent weed control products are not recommended for a vine until it is 3 or more years old....so i would wait on that and i am sure Appleman will add much more to all this.....


if i were to add anything to my space between the rows it would only be one thing....stones.....rocks....my place is to large to bring in what i would need....but if my place were manageable, i would definitely add the rocks for heat retention at harvest time...and they would do just as much as wood chips as far as weed control ( which is not much after an initial effective time period). Sooner or later weed seeds find their way into all mulchs.


So to me the choice after rocks for heat would be appearance....cultivated soil...mulch such as you are thinking of etc


Early weed control practicescenter around cool season weeds like chickweed and annual bluegrass...so aroundup type product takes care of this...other weeds germinate based on soil temps, such as crabgrass ( usually around 50 degrees/soil and that is late may early june) .


I am not sure how things are in Montana but out our way, if we pretty much attempt a weed control in early may, early july and once in late august we have done all we can do...weather may dictate a june or september application.


Do you do any dormant spraying?

 

[grapeman]

Why don't you seed the area between the rows with a low growing grass? It is easy to keep mowed and looks great. It is a good time to do it now. The freezing and thawing action works the seed into the soil where it germinates when it gets warm enough. I did that in my VineYard last week end (the 50 Marquette planted on the edge of the lawn).


At Willsboro this year we are looking at putting down some landscape fabric. Lay it down next to the vines, cut a slit even with each vine and slide the fabric past the vines so it ends up with the vine in the center of the fabric. Then use the hold-downs to keep it in place and be sure to fasten the edges of the slits you made with one or two hold downs. This lets the rain through, but keeps weeds to a minimum. I will let you know more how it works out later this year.

 

[AlFulchino]

"At Willsboro this year we are looking at putting down some landscape fabric. Lay it down next to the vines, cut a slit even with each vine and slide the fabric past the vines so it ends up with the vine in the center of the fabric. Then use the hold-downs to keep it in place and be sure to fasten the edges of the slits you made with one or two hold downs. This lets the rain through, but keeps weeds to a minimum. I will let you know more how it works out later this year."


Rich how will that stand up to tractor use while spraying?

 

[grapeman]

It will stand up fine Al. The rows are on 10 foot spacing and we will use a 3 foot fabric. We used the pladtic mulch from planting until now. It worked well but has finally gotten a bit too ragged to leave any more. We are looking for similar effects but without the plastic getting punched with some holes. The tractor tires miss the plastic- barely. You need to be careful mowing also so that the mowing deck doesn't catch it. I would say 4 years from any mulch is doing great. That way, we have been able to limit weed sprays to once a year for perennials in the spring before budbreak.

 

[OilnH2O]

Al, no dormant spraying - in fact, I haven't sprayed for anything in the 3 years I've been at this, nor have I seen any signs of anything amiss. The only concern last year was a week long period of some japenese-type beetles which didn't do much damage that I could tell.

And the rocks -- I've got rocks, the problem is they are "well-distributed!"

I've thought about flags - there are places around where you can actually go gather them beside old logging roads/cuts but that's like bringing coal to Newcastle in my yard!

I've tried to keep the roundup away -- didn't know if there was a problem with it before bud-break. I'll stick with the pitch-fork. Rich, the problem with grass is the difficulty with mowing. My backyard has a 25-30* slope and while a mower could fit between the rows, there would be a lot of "horsing" it around, so I'm leaning away from that (plus, getting the sod out of there to put in the vinyard in the FIRST place was such a chore, I hate to think I'd plant back!

)

 

[grapeman]

Well then Roundup would work before budbreak. As long as there is no green actively growing vine, it will do no damage. That would get rid of the perennials first thing in the spring. You could do wide landscape fabric and pin it down. Then maybe put mulch over it. It comes in a wide variety of widths.

 

[BonnieJoy]

I wouldn't use cedar mulch as cedar trees don't get eaten by bugs because of the naturally occuring arsenic in their wood.


Sounds like mowing your site would be waaaaayyy too difficult. Still, there are supposed to be some very low growing grasses that require only bi-monthly mowings. They use them in Orchards as I recall.