Vineyard
Sustainability
The vineyard dream is now a reality. Moving forward, it’s all about vineyard sustainability—year in, year out.
Over the past year of planning, planting, and first-season vine care, your effort has figuratively borne fruit. The actual fruit has yet to come. It will take another year before the third season provides grapes.
This page provides a high-level overview of the components necessary to sustain a vineyard’s growth and life. The overview contains embedded internet links that define terms. At the bottom of the page are curated topic blocks linked to sources covering additional sustainability details and considerations.
Trellising and Pruning - Second Season
Vine growth should explode during the second season.
If you haven’t installed a trellis, finish it before growth begins in early spring. The use of 12 gauge wire is most common (supports the weight of the vines), with metal or wooden posts. Some growers use wooden round posts at the end of rows. Metal can also be used, set at an outward angle if possible. Interior posts should be set no wider than 12 – 15 feet apart. The use of concrete for footings the best, though pounded into solid soil, can work as well.
Several vine trellis and pruning approaches exist, with Vertical Shoot Positioning (VSP) commonly used for Vitis vinifera grapes. The primary goal of the second year is to train the vines to the trellis and encourage continued root development.
You can prune the vines when dormant before spring. You can also wait till the threat of late spring freeze or frost has diminished. If you’re a first-time pruner with young vines, watch several online videos from experienced hobbyists, agricultural universities, and extension offices—such as this one provided by New Mexico State University (they use VSP).
Most helpful is getting together with a local grower or vineyard manager who can demonstrate the techniques.
As in the first year of growth, grape bunches should be discarded as they appear.
Trellising and Pruning - Third Season and Subsequent Seasons
The trellis hasn’t had to bear much weight in the past two years. Even if it had, vine growth with grapes in the third and subsequent seasons applies much weight to the trellis. Check your posts for stability and ensure the wires are tight. This task should be performed in the spring of every year.
There are subtle changes in the pruning approach as the vine matures in the third season. This video from Penn State Extension provides excellent pruning instruction material, including videos of the first several years of vine training.
Year-Round Vineyard Schedule
Beginning in year two, you’ll establish a routine of tasks to sustain healthy vineyard growth. These routines will provide an annual worksheet for the coming years.
They are:
- Trellis care—the wires and posts can loosen during winter and should be checked continually, especially in the spring.
- Vine pruning—this task utilizes the bulk of your vineyard time.
- Identification of unwanted diseases and pests is a constant battle, which increases in year three when grapes ripen and gain sugar. Insect pests and diseases are climate—and region-specific. It is essential to compare notes with local growers or your state extension office to affirm the regional possibilities. Determining common remedial action in your region is part of the discovery process.
- Spraying—is used to control pests and issues such as powdery mildew and black rot. A backpack sprayer works well for smaller vineyards. Larger vineyard spraying is more efficiently accomplished with sprayers mounted on small trailers pulled by an ATV or tractor.
- Irrigation adjustments.
- Ground cover and weed control (a sprayer is essential).
- Strategies to deal with early and late freezes and frosts.
No matter your level of success in keeping to your vineyard routines and applying remedies as required, you’ll find a few vines will die or not prosper. You should plan to assess your vines in early fall and order replacements for spring planting. You can also create your own cuttings for vine replacement.
Conclusion
You’ve accomplished much, having expended tremendous effort and hard work. As prompted on the A Vineyard page, your dream has been fulfilled. Yes, you’re well on your way to the day you’ll be making wine from your grapes, enjoying a glass on the deck overlooking the vineyard.
Find online topic links below, which are helpful in working through multi-year vineyard sustainability requirements.
Spring in the Vineyard Brings Hope and Rebirth (WineEnthusiast)
For winemakers, spring marks the shift from winter dormancy to reawakening. In the vineyard, the groundwork for harvest is laid and important transitions occur, from de-acclimation, bud break, and flowering, to cover crop, vine replanting, and more. Spring isn’t without its hazards, nor immune to the changing climate.
Summer in the Vineyard Sets the Stage for Harvest (WineEnthusiast)
For some people, summer means warm temperatures, long days and carefree vibes. For vignerons, summer is hard work. After they prune and prepare the vineyards through the winter and spring, winemakers must shepherd grapes to the finish line. They pull leaves and drop fruit, monitor for diseases and pests, and protect against weather hazards.
Post-Harvest Vineyard Maintenance: Tips to Finish the Year Off Right (Grapevine Magazine)
Although the busy time of harvesting grapes is winding down or has ended for many vineyards, there’s not much time to sit back and relax before more critical work must be done. Many post-harvest vineyard tasks should be on every vineyard’s to-do lists to prepare for next year’s crop and sustain the longevity of the vineyard’s operations.
Pruning and Training Grapes in the Home Vineyard (University of NH Extension)
Home-grown grapes make excellent wine. A small home vineyard with even just a vine or two can be a beautiful and productive addition to the landscape, yard or patio. In this publication, we discuss the importance of pruning and training grapes and describe some of the training systems that can be used successfully in home vineyards.
7 Most Common Grapevine Diseases (Wine Cooler)
For winemakers, grapevine diseases can be devastating. Unfortunately, there are many kinds of vine diseases that thrive in all sorts of conditions. Bacteria and fungi cause the most common grapevine diseases. Insects can also spread disease and damage roots. Environmental conditions can trigger fungi development that wreaks havoc on grapevines in vineyards.
10 Worst Grapevine Insect Pests: How to Identify and Treat Them (Minneopa Orchards)
Nothing ruins a perfect growing season like annoying pests. One week, you’re looking forward to a healthy yield of grapes, and the next, your grape vine has suffered enough damage to threaten a future harvest. It may seem like a hopeless endeavor, but there are ways to spot and prevent grape vine pests from ruining your harvest.
Bird damage reduction strategies utilizing viticultural practices (MSU Extenstion)
Bird damage begins around Veraison and continues until late fall/winter when grapes are harvested for ice-wine production. If you don’t have bird control, crop losses can reach up to 95% and 60% in red and white varieties, respectively. It is extremely difficult to stop birds once they have tasted the sweet grapes.
Dormant Cane and Spur Pruning (PennState Extension)
Grapevine pruning is an important and labor-intensive vineyard management task. Grapevine buds contain compressed shoots that will grow and produce a crop in the forthcoming season. Retaining fruitful buds is the primary method of manipulating shoot density and cluster number for the following season.
Climate, Weather and Vineyard Management (eVineyard)
Climate and weather play an important role in viticulture. While the weather can change in a short period of time, climate represents the average of the weather over a period of time. While vineyard management practice depends on the climate in which the grapes are grown in, the weather is dictating winegrower’s daily work.
Prevention and Management of Frost Injury in Wine Grapes (NC State Extension)
Late-spring frost events can cause severe injury to grapevines, often leading to the loss of fruitful buds and subsequent decreased yield and fruit quality. Severe frost injury has the potential to destroy a whole vintage. In areas such as the Southeast, where spring frosts are common, both passive and active frost control techniques are essential to maintain the longevity and economic sustainability of a vineyard.
Grapevine Pruning – VSP, Guyot, & How to Convert Mature Vines (SHredWorld)
How to perform Vertical Shoot Positioning (VSP) and Guyot grapevine pruning in a hobby vineyard. This video explores why we converted some mature vines from VSP to Guyot vine training system. Advantages and disadvantages of vine training methods shown and discussed.