question site prep (fall before planting) and do I need a cover crop?

[TimTheWiner]

So as some of you may have seen here ( http://www.winemakingtalk.com/forum/f25/want-plant-about-1-2-acre-few-questions-32569/ ) I am starting a small 120 vine 1/5th acre vineyard. I really need to get my site prep done before mid October. The field is currently your basic "lawn" type grass cover. I have already sprayed my row lines (3' rows and 3' aisles). We encountered quite a few rocks/medium sized boulders (up to 2'x2') and I have decided that we should probably dig up the soil up to a depth of about 18"-24" so when it comes times to plant in the spring and installing posts we won't have to worry about hitting rocks.

The question is, I have a friend who is willing to use his tractor with backhoe attachment to dig up each row to a 18"-24" depth and remove rocks. The bucket is 20" wide. Is this wide enough or should I do the entire 36" row width that I measured out? I see a lot of sites mentioning plowing the entire field (I don't know that this is possible with all the rocks though), then ammending the soil and planting a winter cover crop late summer/early fall. So which menthod should I use? Dig out only the rows that I am going to plant and leave the grass that is already there in between rows, or should I dig up the whole field and then replant and then just herbicide and/or till the individual planting rows in the spring. HELP!?
Here is one of the links I was looking at: http://www.uky.edu/Ag/NewCrops/siteprep3112.pdf

Here is the field I am working with. I have about 3 weeks to figure out what I'm doing.

http://www.winemakingtalk.com/forum/f25/want-plant-about-1-2-acre-few-questions-32569/

 

[M1wino]

As long as you have access to a backhoe I would go down at least three feet. Grapes are very deep rooting plants and the more you loosen the soil the better. If it were me I would till the entire field, plant a cover crop and till it under again in the spring prior to planting. Then worry about grass or whatever you want in your rows. I'm fairly new to his as well so aim sure those with more experience will chime in with more info for you, good luck keep us posted on your progress!

 

[TimTheWiner]

My issue with turning up the whole field is that he quoted $250 for 6 rows. He doesn't know there are 10 rows, so I'm guessing he'll charge me $350-$400 for all 10 rows. I can't see paying him to do the entire area as I'm way over budget and I haven't even started yet. I don't want to be spending more than $2k on this project. I can't till the whole area specifically because of the rocks which is why he's removing them. Geeze, to many decisions.

 

[rob]

When I planted mine we rented a power auger and did 500 holes in two days

 

[grapeman]

My issue with turning up the whole field is that he quoted $250 for 6 rows. He doesn't know there are 10 rows, so I'm guessing he'll charge me $350-$400 for all 10 rows. I can't see paying him to do the entire area as I'm way over budget and I haven't even started yet. I don't want to be spending more than $2k on this project. I can't till the whole area specifically because of the rocks which is why he's removing them. Geeze, to many decisions.

Welcome to grape growing and a vineyard. Figure on always spending more money than you want. Soil preparation is key, but I still believe using a backhoe to dig trenches is way overkill. If you hit a rock to big to work around, just move the vine a little. It may disrupt the tidiness you seem to be after, but it will save a lot of money and result in just as good of vineyard and grapes. Just MHO.

 

[bigdrums2]

Stick to just the rows, 3 feet deep is optimal. I would advise against killing/tilling anything else. You don't want to disrupt the natural ecosystem happening in your soil. I killed all my grass and all I created was a big mud puddle that took sometime for my vineyard to recover from. In addition to that, since there was nothing to soak up water all it did was just collect and make my clay soil worse. I know that practice is recommended in some books, but not for me. Now I have natural grass in between rows and clover growing in the isles and the vines are really healthy.

 

[TimTheWiner]

Yes, I think just the rows is much better than tearing up grass that's been there for 60 years. My biggest worry is funding a bolder that is too large to move (as my dad warned me there may be a HUGE one that was moved there when the foundation for the house was dug in the 50's. We shall see. I am just usually VERY anal about parallel lines/things looking orderly but I'll have to relax a bit when he's pulling up the boulders and realize there may need to be some room for modification.

 

[saddlebronze]

My pov is to just mark where you want the vines, and have the backhoe take one scoop where each vine will be and dump it right back in the hole. Should take no time and if you hit a rock, move on to the next hole.

 

[UBB]

I don't mean to hijack but I am in the process of prepping for an expansion to my vineyard and am dealing with the same issues the OP is. I have a tiller mounted on the back of our little yard tractor and I was thinking that would be sufficient to bust up the sod. I'll post a pic of what I'm doing. I'm looking for feedback if anyone thinks I should be doing it another way.

 

[fivebk]

Leave the grass between the rows it will make the vineyard look a lot nicer. As long as the soil is fairly fertile I don't think you will have an issue with the grass competing with the vines.

BOB