How I built a trellis for grape vines
RedneckContributor - December 17, 2020IMO, grapes are a great choice for home gardeners and especially for preppers. In the warm areas of the country, such as where I live in North Mississippi, the grape of choice is the muscadine. Below is how I built my trellis a few years ago. First I set my treated posts, where I use 6×6 posts on the ends and 4×4 posts down the line. To attach and tension the 12.5 gauge high tensile wire, I use the Gripple product, which in this case includes the wirevise, the wire joiners, ground anchors and the tensioning tool. With this product, you feed the wire into a slot & the wire can only keep going forward. It can’t be pulled back out, like Chinese finger traps. Makes tensioning the wire exceptionally easy… especially with their tool. You can purchase the product from Amazon but I get my orchard supplies from Orchard Valley Supply. https://www.orchardvalleysupply.com/…ons/trellising
I drilled a hole thru the 6×6 end posts, slid in a wirevise on the outside of the post & fed the 12.5 gauge high tensile wire thru the wirevise, then tensioned from one end & then attached stainless guides on top of the 4×4 line posts. I’m holding a wirevise so you can see how it looks.
Even though all posts are set 2 1/2 – 3 feet deep with concrete, you want to brace the end posts to keep them from leaning under the tension of the wire… especially when the wire is loaded with fruit and vines. On this end, I’m using Gripple earth anchors. They are driven, in this case, 3 feet into the ground, until the loop just barely sticks out. You then pull the drive rod out, slide it thru the loop and then pull up. This causes the anchor to pivot underground and then lock in place. When done the loop is now about 6 inches above ground.
Ready to pound the anchor deep underground.
This is where you pull up the rod, slide it thru the wire loop & pull upward until the end rotates & locks in place.
I then use the end post kit, which includes the Gripple wire joiner & the galvanized wire with a loop on one side, to tension the end post to the ground anchor.
One trellis now fully tensioned and braced.
Three trellises wired, tensioned & braced by myself in about 1 1/2 hours. You can’t get any easier & anytime it needs to be tightened, you simply attach the tool to the end of the wire.
Two years later, here is a variety called Supreme.
And here is Magnolia.
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Comments (24)
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Gideon ParkerStaff
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RedneckContributor
I love to eat them straight off the vines. You have to spit out the seeds but oh so good. My wife is our jelly maker. She just put up a couple of dozen pints of strawberry and blackberry jam. She makes a great muscadine jelly. I had a friend that passed away recently that made several different types of muscadine wine.
You can either let the vine grow up a bamboo stake or you can drop a string down from the above wire. I use bamboo as I have it growing on my property and actually most vines will come already attached to some bamboo when purchased. When it gets to the wire you cut the vine and it will then put out two shoots. You train one to go one direction and train the other to go opposite. Here is a pic of my pruned vine from this spring and maybe you can see how it is growing.
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Gideon ParkerStaff
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RedneckContributor
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Gideon ParkerStaff
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RedneckContributor
Well you wouldn’t want to plant it in a bed next to your house or driveway. It could do damage. They sell a product that you bury around your bamboo to keep it from spreading. In my situation, it is on a fence line in my paddock. Any shoots that come up outside, or actually near the fence are quickly eaten by cows and horses. You can also control the growth just by cutting them with a mower, as you cut your grass in the spring. So if you had a screen of them inside your yard, you could simply control the spread by using your mower and not go through any real trouble.
I like the idea of having bamboo during a crisis. You can do so much with it. That is why I’m trying this big bamboo. This next spring I’m expecting the new shoots to get around 20′ tall and maybe around 2″ in diameter. That is then getting to the size where you can actually do something with it.
Here is a pic from this spring. You can see the prior years bamboo fully dressed in leaves. You can see the new shoots coming up all around. The first year’s shoots barely made it to the top of the fence. The second year’s shoots are about double that. These new shoots that came up this year got a good bit taller. Now at this point when I took the pic, this year’s shoots are still growing but you can see how new shoots get bigger each year as the underground root gets larger. My understanding is, but I’m not 100% sure, is that the shoot diameter will be similar to the root diameter. This winter I’m gonna prune out those shorter, older bamboo to allow those oldest roots to put out more big shoots next spring.
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Gideon ParkerStaff
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RedneckContributor
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RedneckContributor
Took this pic this am. Shows fencing better.
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RedneckContributor
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RedneckContributor
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RedneckContributor
No, not really. With my 150 or so apple trees, when I retire I plan on making cider… if not to drink then at least to make apple cider vinegar. I have a cider press, which we made at work, and associated gear for fermentation. It is sitting in my upper barn waiting on retirement.
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Olly Wright
Gideon Parker
Dog lover
BrewIt
I’ve actually tried making jelly and jam with a few grapes but have had a lot more success with the wines. I turned my electrical closet into my winery, lol.
River
