Grape vine pruning

[Gtp70]

Not sure what to do here, vine came with the house but it’s a mess. Vines we’re tied down the wooden beams but I cut them back.

grape vines I see are like a T, this one is all over the place.

should I cut off some of the ones not officially on the trunk and keep the 2 that more resemble a T. And make them grow horizontal instead of vertically gown the slope?

thanks

[Snoop Puss]

Hello and welcome, GTP70. I'm afraid I can't offer any advice, but there are quite a few members with established vines who will doubtless be able to give you their views. Meanwhile, best wishes in your new home.

[ameno]

Does it fruit reasonably well? If it does, then to be honest I'd leave it as it is. Or do you not know because you only moved in this winter?

It's a somewhat unorthodox training scheme, but it looks as though it ought to work just fine. When new growth comes in the spring, tie it in to those horizontal beams (you could maybe also tie in a few horizontally as well, since there seems to be space). Those stems will bear your grapes. Any shoots that try to grow from closer to the ground should be rubbed off as they appear. Follow the usual summer pruning regimes (shorten fruiting shoots to one bud beyond the bunch, non-fruiting shoots to 3-4 buds from the based, and any side shoots to one leaf). Then next winter, cut all of this year's growth back to one bud, so that it goes back to more or less looking as it does right now.

You could maybe shorten some of those thinner stems on the right hand side which poke up above the horizontal beams, but if you do want to do that it will have to wait until next winter. You mustn't prune grape vines between late January and about late June, as they will bleed profusely.

[Zelenina]

I live in an area where a lot of grapes are grown and I see them pruned in various ways. In vineyards with a lot of vines they are usually pruned very strictly to a T shape as you've said. But in gardens people often let them grow over a wooden structure something like the one you have to provide a leafy, shady place for sitting out in the summer. They produce plenty of grapes that way which hang down vey decoratively. I actually have a couple of inherited vines in my garden, in locations where it's not easy to train them in any particular way, so they usually ramble where they want among some shrubs and small trees, and I prune them a bit in the summer if they get too rambunctious. They usually produce quite a few bunches of grapes. So I suggest you leave yours alone until you see how they grow in the spring, and train some new shoots up and over the beams, or anywhere else you'd like them to go, as ameno said. Under-pruning is better than over-pruning as you could accidentally remove all the growth buds.