I have two grapevines. I am VSP trellising one of them and have figured out the details thanks to members here who baby-stepped me through it. For my other one, I want to build a pergola. I’m having trouble understanding how the vine would actually work over a pergola.
First of all, it seems to me that there are one of two ways to do this. First is growing the vine up along one of the legs of the pergola. This would be the more attractive / clean design. Like this:
However, as you can see, the question that comes up is where do the opposite facing shoots go? I don’t think anyone would want them flopping over, like this:
So am I misunderstanding something?
The other design is having the vine positioned in the middle of the pergola, like this:
This design seems to be a solution to the previous problem, but I think it’s less attractive having the trunk right in the middle.
Please share any ideas. I have no idea if any of these are going to work out like I have it played out in my mind. So if there’s anything to point out, please share. Thanks.
I’m making one like your last picture for my kiwi vine except mine will connect with the edge on the long side for the female and the male will have the other edge. i will allow each to spread towards the middle.
Well, I have had a 24’ x 12’ arbor for the last 10 years and understand the issues that you are dealing with -
Are you spur pruning or cane pruning off of the cordon?
You would be pruning in order to choose and train the shoots to follow the cross pieces. Any chosen shoots that tend to grow opposite would need to be bent to grow the direction desired.
Actually I think that it would be best (based on my experience) to have the trunk up one of the legs and have the cordon diagonally thru the middle of the pergola to the opposite corner.
In any design that you choose your always are going to have shoots that run off of your pergola. Get used to that. I just let them hang and not worry about it.
I have a very similar question. My 1-yr-old Flame Grape vine has recently overtopped its pergola but I have latticework already installed on top. The square holes are 3"x3", but there are joists every 6", so there won’t be a lot of space for grape clusters to get through to hang down.
I really hate going up the ladder, but I think I want to remove the latticework and let the main vine become my new shade, right? It’s in 4’ x 8’ sections, so I can remove it piece by piece as my vine grows in. But that means I need to get started today!
Then, I think I want my main vine to run along the joists, so that its cordons (?) come across the joists at right angles, correct?
The wisdom of the internet tells me to prune the growing tip once it’s 2’ above the pergola, which is now. Or should I just train that growing tip in the direction of the joists, and let it branch out to either side?
The pergola is about 25’ long in the direction of the joists and 35’ in the cross direction
I might want to start a different grape variety (white?) in the other corner, e.g. at the top of the photo. The diagonally opposite corner is not suitable for planting.
If it were me, I would definitely remove the latticework before the vine grew anymore. Its mostly your choice as to whether to branch out the cordon. I’m not familiar with the Flame vine so I won’t try to advise as to use spur or cane pruning. I probably would let the cordon(s) run diagonally across the joists toward the opposite corner ending about 15’ if it was only one vine. Make your decisions based on your needs as to the upkeep of the vines (pruning, harvesting, etc.)
Its okay to plant another vine, since you have space.
Snip it if you desire to have it branch into two cordons. Leave it like it is if you desire just one cordon.
The tendrils are concerning as they are trying to grab on to something. You should have the vine growing in the direction that you wish, not necessarily in the direction that it wants to grow. I’m not sure if that can be accomplished without having a wire or line for the tendrils to latch on to. Having to use a step ladder? How high is the pergola?
The top is only 9’ off the ground, but I’m a big chicken when it comes to heights.
Yeah, I’ll velcro it to the joist for now, and if it starts wandering, I’ll give the tendrils something to grab. The joists are pretty small, so I might able to wrap alternating tendrils around, manually, and see if they grab each other. That’s what I do with my passionfruit tendrils, and those are going around a 2 x 8 fence rail.
I would probably consult a local ag extension office. That is what I did when my vines looked sickly. Their lab confirmed that it was Pierce’s Disease. Flame is said to be highly susceptible.
