Huge Cowart Muscadines - 2009
As I mentioned in a previous post, last fall Danny Gabb was kind enough to give me four muscadine grape vines: two Supreme, and two Florida Fry. I already had a Cowart and a Triumph, but I hadn't really done anything with them because I felt I didn't have the room.
I had previously attempted to grow muscadines in cramped areas on the porch and along a small trellis in the back where the blueberries are now. I learned the hard way that muscadines are vigorous climbers, and cannot be contained without regular pruning. They climbed everywhere, up the house siding, in the brick, just everywhere. I had planted them where it was very difficult to mow around them and prune, and I really couldn't keep them under control, so eventually I wound up finding new homes for them and establishing the blackberries and blueberries in their place.
However, even with all the attention they require, muscadines are so delicious that I simply must grow them. One of my earlier mistakes was building a trellis right next to the fence, which made it very difficult to mow and weed around them. My plan this time around is to plant them next to the fence posts, and use the fence itself as a trellis. I'll install a stiff wire along the top of the fence to guide the arms as they grow, and hopefully by next year I'll have a good framework established.
I suspect that at some point the muscadines will attempt to reach out from the fence and grow into adjacent fruit trees, so I'll just have to be diligent in my summer pruning. Of course, it wouldn't be that big of a deal if they did grow into the fruit trees. That's a good example of what permaculturists call "stacking", where one plant supports another, and you can get two crops out of the same space. I also have not-so-secret ambitions to use my kid's future swing-set/play structure as a muscadine trellis. I think it would be great for my kids to be able to pick and eat grapes while they play. Dr. Wife isn't crazy about the idea.
I had previously attempted to grow muscadines in cramped areas on the porch and along a small trellis in the back where the blueberries are now. I learned the hard way that muscadines are vigorous climbers, and cannot be contained without regular pruning. They climbed everywhere, up the house siding, in the brick, just everywhere. I had planted them where it was very difficult to mow around them and prune, and I really couldn't keep them under control, so eventually I wound up finding new homes for them and establishing the blackberries and blueberries in their place.
However, even with all the attention they require, muscadines are so delicious that I simply must grow them. One of my earlier mistakes was building a trellis right next to the fence, which made it very difficult to mow and weed around them. My plan this time around is to plant them next to the fence posts, and use the fence itself as a trellis. I'll install a stiff wire along the top of the fence to guide the arms as they grow, and hopefully by next year I'll have a good framework established.
I suspect that at some point the muscadines will attempt to reach out from the fence and grow into adjacent fruit trees, so I'll just have to be diligent in my summer pruning. Of course, it wouldn't be that big of a deal if they did grow into the fruit trees. That's a good example of what permaculturists call "stacking", where one plant supports another, and you can get two crops out of the same space. I also have not-so-secret ambitions to use my kid's future swing-set/play structure as a muscadine trellis. I think it would be great for my kids to be able to pick and eat grapes while they play. Dr. Wife isn't crazy about the idea.
Florida Fry Muscadine
Supreme Muscadine
Immature Supreme Muscadines
Boy #1 gobbling up fresh picked berries.
