Pruning: the act of cutting back and maintaining vines in order to maintain the vine form, regulate the vines, improve fruit quality and improve bud fruitfulness.
Last time I posed the question ‘how different from building can running a vineyard be?’. Well…. It turns out that the answer is very! With building you follow rules on how to make things, you are taught the correct way to do something and have to work to plans and abiding by building regulations.
My first task as a vineyard owner has been pruning. The aim of pruning is simple - to produce fewer but bigger and better bunches of grapes. The vines need to be thinned out so light and air can get to the growing fruit. The first thing (I very quickly) learnt about pruning is that everyone has a different opinion on it. One person will tell you one thing then the next will tell you the opposite. There seems to be only one definite thing about pruning , that there is no definite! Do I leave two or three shoots, in case of frost, or do as Francis, who prunes professionally does, and take the minimalist approach and cut everything back?
So taking a deep breath, and also braving snow and chilblains, here is how I decided to approach the challenge:
Prune vines during the winter before the sap starts to rise.
Remove last years canes leaving two plus two spares.
Trim the remaining spurs to three buds..
Remove diseased wood and leave the vines to grow without being crowded..
However, what I can tell you for definite is that I am doing everything to ensure the vines have all they need to grow so that this year, hopefully, we’ll have the best grape yield possible. From talking to the grapes, to maybe even singing. I find myself pruning to what I’ve come to think of as the pruning waltz - 1, 2, 3, … 1, 2, 3… (as I count the buds).
The vines themselves have a beautiful sculptural quality, as you can see in the picture above and I’m now looking forward to warmer weather and seeing the buds burst into growth.
If you would like to see our vines for yourself then you can. Check out the ‘Tours’ section on the website. See you soon!