michael wrote:

> I am fairly new to growing my own vines in
> England,and am looking for a site to find out
> some of the details of pruning the vines during
> the summers growth.In paticular I wish to know
> how to deal with over vigorous growth,and
> whether to remove side shoots or laterals during
> the summers rapid growth.Cheers michael

I can't offhand point you to a website but here in
the Mid Atlantic the short answer would be Yes,
control the vigorous growth.

I was at a "Field Day" meeting of the Maryland
Grape Growers Association (MGGA) recently and the
Viticulturists there said a "rule of thumb" is
that if someone is on the other side of the row
across from you, you should thin, position shoots
and leaf pull in order to see the color of the
clothing they are wearing - not to the point of
being able to specifically identify them.

Shoot length should be on the order of 4 feet long
and leaf pulling should be predominately on the
East side to allow early morning sun to
penetrate.

I don't know what trellising system you are using
but for most it is also important to keep the
shoots vertical and not let them cross over. The
cross over will happen very easily and it is
amazing how long some of the crossover shoots are
and how much shading they provide.