Tales from Skunk Hill
We have a grape[1] vine that is running amok. So I’m building an arbor to give it room to grow.
The first two posts are set, those are the hard ones. From here out it’s smooth sailing!
Did you know an arbor and a pergola are the same thing? I didn’t until I started this project.
[1] Frontenac grapes. A cold hardy wine grape. Makes a concentrated high-acid wine that is hard to drink by itself because of the acid, but is nice for blending.
We went around and around about this for our grape vines, if properly pruned they do not need the space you are about to provide them. Production on 2 cordons with 16-18 spurs will yield better and more fruit than one allowed to run amok,(according to all the wine experts we talked with). Major pruning is needed every year to keep them under control. Mom said Aunt Thelma was pruner extraordinaire.
The arbor and grapevine are more about aesthetics than production. We were looking towards making a pretty shady spot in the garden.
Although the robustness of this Frontenac vine in our soils has me considering planting a mini-vineyard of hybrid grapes.
We prune the grapevine heavily at least once a year (and sometimes I sneak in a snip or two out of pruning season just to keep it in bounds). I’ll be growing some gourds on the arbor as well as the grapevine. It’ll be great shade for our picnic table.
I love the thought of people being under the arbor and a gourd dropping on them
Leave a Reply