New Vineyard orientation

[saddlebronze]

My new vineyard is a rectangle roughly 100 by 150 feet square. The east/ west is the long dimension. My question is should the rows run east west or north south. The north south rows would be shorter and I can look down the rows from my house to look for varmints. What do y'all think?

 

[bigdrums2]

Where do you live at and what is light like?

 

[saddlebronze]

I am in Western CT and the light is strong since I cut down all the trees on this plot and it is oriented due east to west.

 

[sour_grapes]

Is the land flat or on a hill? (I should hasten to add that, no matter the answer to my question, I do not know the answer to yours!)

 

[GreginND]

Frankly, I don't think it matters. I would put your rows in the direction that is best suited to working the vineyard most efficiently.

 

[Rocky]

I suggest planting the rows in a north to south orientation. This gives a more even distribution of sun to all the vines and that is key to a good production of ripe grapes.

 

[grapeman]

It doesn't make a lot of diffeerence either way, but I will mention a few points to consider.
There will be more shorter rows- more posts to buy as well as anchor points so it will cost more N->S
The grapes might ripen slightly more uniformly running N->S.
Not as far to carry grape lugs or buckets going N->S.

Consider the view you will get-sounds like N->S will give the better view.

 

[saddlebronze]

You guys are the greatest! The site is relatively flat, but drains to the west. As for aesthetics, the east west would give longer rows, but not as good a view from the house. Since it does not matter, I will probably do some of both.

 

[sour_grapes]

You guys are the greatest! The site is relatively flat, but drains to the west. As for aesthetics, the east west would give longer rows, but not as good a view from the house. Since it does not matter, I will probably do some of both.

Pardon my temerity, but it sounds to me like choosing BOTH of two good options is actually a bad option. Using both orientations means that you will have lots of operations where you will have to do them in two distinct "batches." You will have to leave an empty space at the end of the rows where the border between the directions is. Plus you will have to buy even more posts than you would if you had done either all N-S or all E-W.

Of course, it is your vineyard, so you should do as you please!

 

[saddlebronze]

So, this requires a bit more detail to answer. The short answer is that this is not a commercial venture, so aesthetics count. I am going to put a gazebo in one quadrant (the northeast quadrant) and I want to be able to see down the rows so the southwest and northwest quadrants will run North South and the southeast quadrant will run east west. That way when I am sitting in the gazebo I will be looking down some rows and across some others. Post count is not a big deal since I am going to drill and place steel fence posts for trellising and each row will have only a few since the load will be light versus a real vineyard.

 

[sour_grapes]

Sounds loverly! Can I stop by for a sit and sip on the gazebo?

Best of luck with the vines!