Hello.
A couple of years ago I purchased a home with 6 acres and a small .25 acre vineyard, which originally had about 200 vines. The previous owners built the vineyard in the 80's and I'm not sure what the grapes are. A neighbor said concord, and ives, and i know there are some whites. The problem is that they are all mixed up, except for the first row, which I'm almost positive is all concord.
When I bought the place the grapes had not been pruned in about 5 years. There are many multi-trunked vines (same roots) spread out about 4 feet apart, create "2 vines". I ended up heading a lot of them because of position, condition, etc. The trellis is in terrible shape, most posts are rotting and wires are crumbling or sagging to the point of being worthless. The good thing is, caring for the vines has been good practice and great for learning.
My goal is to grow quality grapes on a small scale and make my own wine, and see where it leads. I'd like to plant a properly spaced/organized vineyard of a few varieties that I like. This year I started removing some of the existing vines and trellis posts/wires. The remaining vines that were in decent shape have been pruned, but many were cut close to the ground. I know for sure that the first row is all concord, and that's the least ideal variety for me, so I was considering just ripping out the first row and replanting with petit verdot/cab franc. (about 20 each)
Some questions I have are:
Does it make sense to start replanting and re-trellising one row/section at a time, or is it best to just rip them all out and start over? Being that this is only my third season of caring for the mature vines, I feel like I'd rather do smaller trials with my desired varieties to make sure they work, yet I feel much less organized if I don't start with a clean slate.
Also, If I rip out a few vines here and there, can a new bare-rooted 1-year vine be immediately planted in the same spot or nearby? Given that the current vine spacing is erratic, new vines would end up in different spots.
Sorry this is a little all over the place, I don't have a lot of agricultural/farming experience, or big ground engaging equipment aside from a PTO 4-ft rototiller that I haven't used yet!
Thanks in advance for any advice.
A couple of years ago I purchased a home with 6 acres and a small .25 acre vineyard, which originally had about 200 vines. The previous owners built the vineyard in the 80's and I'm not sure what the grapes are. A neighbor said concord, and ives, and i know there are some whites. The problem is that they are all mixed up, except for the first row, which I'm almost positive is all concord.
When I bought the place the grapes had not been pruned in about 5 years. There are many multi-trunked vines (same roots) spread out about 4 feet apart, create "2 vines". I ended up heading a lot of them because of position, condition, etc. The trellis is in terrible shape, most posts are rotting and wires are crumbling or sagging to the point of being worthless. The good thing is, caring for the vines has been good practice and great for learning.
My goal is to grow quality grapes on a small scale and make my own wine, and see where it leads. I'd like to plant a properly spaced/organized vineyard of a few varieties that I like. This year I started removing some of the existing vines and trellis posts/wires. The remaining vines that were in decent shape have been pruned, but many were cut close to the ground. I know for sure that the first row is all concord, and that's the least ideal variety for me, so I was considering just ripping out the first row and replanting with petit verdot/cab franc. (about 20 each)
Some questions I have are:
Does it make sense to start replanting and re-trellising one row/section at a time, or is it best to just rip them all out and start over? Being that this is only my third season of caring for the mature vines, I feel like I'd rather do smaller trials with my desired varieties to make sure they work, yet I feel much less organized if I don't start with a clean slate.
Also, If I rip out a few vines here and there, can a new bare-rooted 1-year vine be immediately planted in the same spot or nearby? Given that the current vine spacing is erratic, new vines would end up in different spots.
Sorry this is a little all over the place, I don't have a lot of agricultural/farming experience, or big ground engaging equipment aside from a PTO 4-ft rototiller that I haven't used yet!
Thanks in advance for any advice.
Last edited: