Advice
RHS Help & Advice
Pruning grapes
Ornamental grapes are usually trained as multiple cordons, but for high quality grapes or where space is limited, the Guyot system is more suitable
What is the Guyot system?
This method of growing vines involves annual training of horizontal ‘rods’, growing directly from a short original stem. From these rods fruiting shoots are then trained vertically.
Means of support
For vines in the open, support will be required. Drive 2m (6.5ft) wooden posts into the ground, spaced 4-5m (13-16ft) apart. Reinforce the end posts with struts. Attach a single 2mm-gauge wire about 40cm (16in) from the ground and parallel wires every 30cm (12in) above, secured either side of the post. Plant the vines about 1.5m (5ft) apart inserting a stout cane for each plant.
Alternatively, train plants against a warm sunny wall or even a fence panel for a single vine.
Establishing vines
Plant vines in late autumn, then cut away all growth retaining just one main stem, cutting this to about 15cm (6in) from the ground, leaving at least two good buds. During summer choose a strong shoot (usually the main stem) to train up a cane and pinch out all others to one leaf. After leaf fall cut the selected stem back to 40cm (16in), leaving three good buds.
During the following summer (year two), train in three new shoots vertically. Tuck any sideshoots from these into the parallel wires to grow horizontally. Remove any other shoots growing from the base. After leaf fall, carefully bend the sideshoots to the bottom wire, tying one to the left and the other to the right, then cut these back to 60cm (2ft). Also cut back the remaining central stem to three or four buds to produce replacement rods for the following year.
Treatment in third and subsequent years
During the summer, tuck in the vertical fruit-carrying laterals between the double wires. Cut them to three leaves above the top wires and remove any sideshoots. Cut out all surplus shoots. Train the three replacement shoots from the centre for the following year up the cane. Pinch back any sub-laterals on these replacement shoots to one leaf, removing any blossom.
Avoid overcropping in the early years: allow two or three bunches on a three-year-old vine and four or five a year later. After leaf fall each year cut back the arms that bore fruit (left) in summer to the replacement shoots and tie these in as previously (right).
Neglected vines
A neglected vine should initially have all dead, diseased and damaged wood removed in early winter. Congested growth is then removed so rods are roughly 1m (39in) apart. Congested spurs on older rods can be pruned out where there is a basal shoot to cut to.
Tony Dickerson