Grapevine

Grapevine: how do you recognise it?

Habit

Woody climber with tendrils, up to 10 m, but usually pruned short against a wall, trellis or pergola.

Leaf

Alternate, 3–5-lobed, coarsely toothed, 10–20 cm.

Bark

Older stems with bark that peels in long strips.

Flower

Small, greenish, fragrant flowers in clusters (June).

Fruit

Grapes in bunches, green to bluish-black (September–October).

Difference from Virginia creeper

Virginia creeper has tendrils with adhesive pads and bears no grapes.

Flowering: June · Harvest and fruit: May–June and September–October · Pruning: June–July and December–January

Identify by feature: Palmate leaves

Looks like it, but isn’t

• Virginia creeper Parthenocissus: tendrils with adhesive pads and no grapes. Difference from Virginia creeper

Why grow it?

• Your own grapes in September–October, for dessert, juice or homemade wine.
• A green roof over a pergola, with shade in summer and sun in winter.
• With disease-resistant varieties you can grow it without spraying.
• Self-fertile: one plant already bears grapes.
• Takes up little space against a wall, because it is pruned short.

Grapevine: where does it grow best?

• Full sun and warmth: against a south- or south-west-facing wall, over a pergola or in a greenhouse.
• Well-drained soil, no wet feet. Once established, it roots deeply and copes well with drought.
• It climbs with tendrils that curl around thin supports, and does not cling to the wall itself. Fix horizontal wires every 30–40 cm, 10–15 cm from the wall, so air can circulate behind the leaves.
• Sheltered from cold winds: a warm wall brings ripening forward.

Light

Full sun

Legal basis

Any garden soil

Moisture

Normal

Size

8 m tall, 3 m wide

Hardiness

Throughout Belgium, no protection needed

Goes well with

• Fig: Also a plant for a warm south-facing wall: together a southern corner.
• Peach: Another trained fruit tree for the same sunny wall.
• Rosemary: An evergreen, fragrant shrublet for the dry, warm foot of the wall.

Good and bad companions

Goes well with

• Can climb into old, large trees: english oak, scots pine, sycamore, large-leaved lime

Grapevine: when and how to plant it?

1. Plant preferably in spring, after the hardest frosts.
2. Choose a variety that ripens outdoors in our climate and is not very prone to disease, such as the dessert grapes ‘Boskoop Glory’ and ‘Muscat Bleu’ (black) or ‘Lakemont’ (white, seedless), or the wine grapes ‘Solaris’ and ‘Johanniter’ (white) and ‘Regent’ (red).
3. Plant 20–30 cm from the wall, leaning towards it; keep the graft union of a grafted plant above the soil.
4. Put a cane next to the plant and train one strong shoot up to the wires: that will become the trunk.

Care

Watering

In dry spells during the first year; later only in long dry periods, and never over the leaves.

Feeding

In March, some compost; too much nitrogen gives lots of leaves and more disease.

Thinning bunches

Leave one or two bunches per shoot: they ripen better.

Protection

Put paper bags or netting around the ripening bunches against wasps and birds.

Harvest

Grapes don’t ripen after picking: cut a bunch only once the grapes taste sweet.

Tip: Put a vine against the warmest wall of your house: every extra degree of warmth makes the grapes ripen earlier and taste sweeter.

Grapevine: when to prune it?

Pruning months: June–July and December–January.

When: Winter pruning in December–January, summer pruning (green shoots) in June–July.

How:

• In winter, cut last year’s shoots back to 1–2 buds on the main framework.
• In summer, pinch out the fruiting shoots 2 leaves beyond the last bunch, and remove surplus shoots and sub-laterals.
• In July, remove a few leaves around the bunches, so sun and wind can reach them.

Caution: Don’t prune from February onwards: the vine then ‘bleeds’ heavily.

Pruning: when and how · Pruning calendar and basic rules

Propagation

Hardwood cuttings

At winter pruning, take pieces of one-year-old wood with 2–3 buds, store them cool and plant them in a pot or in the ground in spring; they root easily.

Layering

Bend a long shoot down to the ground and cover a section with soil: after a year it has roots.

Grapevine: how does it get through the winter?

Hardy throughout Belgium: no protection needed.

• The wood is hardy; the young shoots are sensitive to night frost in April–May.
• After winter pruning, tie the trunk and main branches securely in again.

Diseases and pests

• Powdery mildew: Greyish-white, powdery coating on leaves and grapes; the grapes split. Choose a resistant variety and keep the plant airy.
• Downy mildew: Yellow, oily spots on the leaves with white fluff underneath, especially in wet summers. Remove affected leaves and keep the foliage dry.
• Grey mould: Grey, fluffy rot in ripe bunches in wet weather. Thin the bunches and remove leaves around them.
• Wasps and birds: Pecked and sucked-out grapes. Protect the bunches with paper bags or netting.

Through the year

• January: Finish winter pruning; take cutting material.
• March: Add compost; check wires and ties.
• April: Bud break: protect young shoots from night frost.
• June: Flowering; summer pruning: pinch out fruiting shoots and remove sub-laterals.
• July: Summer pruning; thin the bunches and remove leaves around them.
• August: Protect the bunches against wasps and birds.
• September: Harvest of early varieties.
• October: Harvest of late varieties.
• December: Winter pruning, after leaf fall.

What can you use it for?

Food and drink

Dessert grapes, juice, jelly or homemade wine; the young leaves are eaten stuffed.

Garden and landscape

Against a sunny south-facing wall, over a pergola or in a greenhouse.

Edible and useful

Leaves (May–June)

In May and June, pick young, tender leaves about the size of your hand, just below the shoot tips, from a vine that has not been sprayed. They are stuffed with rice and herbs (dolmades), used to wrap fish or goat’s cheese on the barbecue, or added to a jar of gherkins to keep them crisp.

Fruit (September–October)

Grapes are ripe when they taste sweet and the pips are brown; they do not ripen further after picking. Cut whole bunches with scissors on a dry day. Fresh, as juice or jelly, in tarts, frozen as a snack or, with a little patience, for home-made wine.

Storing

Grapes keep for a week in the fridge; loose grapes can be frozen. Blanch young leaves and freeze them rolled up in tens, or preserve them in brine (see recipe). Grape juice can be frozen or pasteurised in bottles.

Fermenting

Grapes are the classic fruit for wine: the yeasts live naturally on the skins. Leftover wine turns into wine vinegar. Vine leaves traditionally go into the jar with vegetables fermented in brine: their tannins keep gherkins crisp.

Caution: Only use leaves and grapes from a vine that has not been sprayed, or not for a long time before harvest. Do not confuse the grapevine with Virginia creeper or Boston ivy (Parthenocissus): they climb with sticky pads, have leaves with five leaflets or three pointed lobes, and blue-black berries you must not eat. Grapes and raisins are poisonous to dogs.

Eating and using is at your own risk: see the terms of use.

Recipes

• Grape jelly (Jelly · ± 4 jars · 1 hour + 3 hours draining)
• Vine leaves in brine (Other · ± 50 leaves (1 jar of 1 litre) · 45 min)
• Stuffed vine leaves with rice and herbs (Dish · ± 30 rolls (serves 4) · 1 hr + 45 min cooking)
• Fresh grape juice (Sap · ± 1 litre · 30 min + 1 hr draining)

Good for wildlife

Birds

Berries, seeds or insects as food, or a place to nest.

Did you know?

• The grapes from the glasshouses of Hoeilaart were world-famous: a Belgian table-grape tradition.
• Grapes don’t ripen after picking: what is picked sour stays sour.
• The ‘bleeding’ in spring is sap dripping from pruning wounds as the roots start pumping up water again.
• In the 19th century phylloxera, an insect introduced from America, destroyed most of Europe’s vineyards. Since then most vines have been grafted onto American rootstocks.
• The wild grapevine has separate male and female plants; cultivated grapes are hermaphrodite and can pollinate themselves.