What a tangled rats nest...This is what you get when you don’t prun for a few years. Amazingly, the seven muscadines I planted along my back fence have survived my lack of care, and even produced several quarts of grapes this summer! Unfortunately for me, my decision to put of pruning them has come back to bite me. I thought the job would take me an hour or so, but I spent at least two hours yesterday pruning just two of the seven.
If I had been smart, I would have done at least a cursory clean up of the vines, and followed the Isons long-cane method - Instead I was lazy and gave myself a complicated chore. Since I hadn’t been selecting the strongest canes and shaping the vines, I’ve wound up with some strange crooks, bends, and loops. While this shouldn’t affect production, these weird shapes will serve as an enduring reminder to prune every winter or else. I also retensioned the guide wires between the posts, and cut back some of the trumpet vine that is trying to take over from the other side of the fence.
If I had been smart, I would have done at least a cursory clean up of the vines, and followed the Isons long-cane method - Instead I was lazy and gave myself a complicated chore. Since I hadn’t been selecting the strongest canes and shaping the vines, I’ve wound up with some strange crooks, bends, and loops. While this shouldn’t affect production, these weird shapes will serve as an enduring reminder to prune every winter or else. I also retensioned the guide wires between the posts, and cut back some of the trumpet vine that is trying to take over from the other side of the fence.
