old vine pruning

[endorphine44]

Stopped by a friends new house and found a grape vine in the back yard...I think it needs a little love

I don't even know where to start except to just start removing canes and try to get back close to the cordon.

 

[grapeman]

Yup. It needs a good haircut. Try and stub back most of the shoots leaving a few inches and drag it all out. Look at what is left trying to make sense of it. Try and figure out a main trunk, a couple nice cordons for the main structure and prune away a lot of extra stuff to bring it back close. If it wasn't pruned for a couple years or more it may be difficult to see what to leave. Basically you need barky wood for the main structure while leaving some of that nice bronze to tan colored wood to be this years renewal shoots which will give you the clusters. Sounds complicated but what you really need to do is de-jungle it a bit.

 

[endorphine44]

Thanks Grapeman, I'll give it a shot next weekend after this cold snap passes through the next few days.

 

[garymc]

Looks like muscadine vines. Are you in zone 7 or 8?

 

[grapeman]

He is somewhere between 6b and 7b in Conway Arkansas or thereabouts. It could be Muscadine. That was my initial thought. It also could be an overgrown Concord from the looks of it.

 

[endorphine44]

Yeah, Conway, AR. I think it's zone 7. My buddy was told they're muscadine so that's what I'm going with. We'll find out later this year hopefully.