Did you know that when you are doing your artful grape planting that you are planting one of the oldest cultivated plants in the world?  That’s pretty impressive.  Grapes have a lot of uses and are so versatile: They can be eaten from the vine or the table; they are used to make juice, jelly, jam and wine.

Grapes are deciduous, meaning "falling off at maturity" or "tending to fall off" woody vines.  A grape vine that is mature will have a trunk, roots, shoots or canes.  The root system of a grape vine is amazing.  Most of the roots will stay between 2 and 5 feet, but some are known to go down into the earth up to 40 feet if the soil is sandy.

All the parts of a grape planting are important, the trunk transports water and food to the roots and shoots.  It will also carry food made by the foliage to the roots.  Shoots develop from dormant buds on the previous year’s growth.  Shoots begin succulent and by winter harden to wood.  The woody shoots then are called canes.  Only the growth that is one year old will bear flowers and clusters of fruit.

Site location

Choosing a grape planting site takes skill and patience, remember that grapes like good drainage, lots of sun, ph from 6.0 to 6.5, little shade and not real fertile soil.

You have gone out and bought the variety of grape that you wish to grow.  You bring it home and are not quite ready for grape planting.  Remember that a dried root system will kill the plant, so there are a few options for you.  Either put some moist dirt into a plastic bag and set the root plant into it until leaving it in a cool moist area.  Before the actual planting of the grapevine, place the roots into water for about three hours.

Grape Planting

The best time to plant dormant, bare-root grapevines is spring after the freeze. Make sure to dig up the soil and make the hole that you will place the plant into larger than the root system of your plant.  Place the plant into the hole, fill in the soil and pat it down firmly.  Then you should make a small moat about each plant, this way you can water the roots indirectly.  Through the first season the grape plants will need about one inch of water a week.  During hot weather they need more water.

Plant grapes vines about 6 to 8 feet apart from each other, to give them room to grow and the rows about 8 to 10 feet apart to give you room to move about tending to them.

You can add a trellis at this point to have it there and ready when needed or you can put in a stake of 5 to 6 foot height to train the new growth onto.  When you first plant, cut off all canes, except two or three of the strongest.

Grape Planting is an art and you can add your own touches of creativity if you remember to follow the basic rules for growing grapes.