I always prune my vines quite early in winter,and wonder whether I am
doing the right thing.I find that pruning in the depth of winter
(although I am in England,and winter day temperatures rarely get below
freezing)when the outside temperature is in the 2-5 degree Celsius
range,very uncomfortable and cold.So I tend to prune the vines when
the leaves have fallen,or just a few yellow leaves remaining.I carry
out cane pruning so that there is always quite a lot of material to
remove,so I tend to do it as early as possible-the canes on the
varieties I grow always seem to ripen well,and I judge that nothing
much will happen to the vine after this.And the canes which I am
laying down (Double Guyot) will continue to be there and keep ripening
anyway.
All of the books suggest that one should wait until the vines are
completely dormant,so I wonder whether my method will cause any
problems.
I would welcome some comments.
Cheers,Michael

michael wrote:

> I always prune my vines quite early in winter,and wonder whether I am
> doing the right thing.I find that pruning in the depth of winter
> (although I am in England,and winter day temperatures rarely get below
> freezing)when the outside temperature is in the 2-5 degree Celsius
> range,very uncomfortable and cold.So I tend to prune the vines when
> the leaves have fallen,or just a few yellow leaves remaining.I carry
> out cane pruning so that there is always quite a lot of material to
> remove,so I tend to do it as early as possible-the canes on the
> varieties I grow always seem to ripen well,and I judge that nothing
> much will happen to the vine after this.And the canes which I am
> laying down (Double Guyot) will continue to be there and keep ripening
> anyway.
> All of the books suggest that one should wait until the vines are
> completely dormant,so I wonder whether my method will cause any
> problems.
> I would welcome some comments.
> Cheers,Michael

Michael, I have heard that it is best to wait two months into dormancy
before pruning and that pruning too early can cause early bud break which
may suffer freeze damage in the spring. The latter may have some actual
documented research behind it.

What some growers do is a "rough" pruning say in January - or about two
months into dormancy (here in the Mid Atlantic) leaving several node length
of excess cane and then do the final pruning right before bud break. Two
years ago I pruned early (January) and had severe damage to primary buds
during a cold streak in mid April. This year I think I will hold off the
final pruning until bud swell. Others comments would be appreciated on
this topic.

--
To reply via email, remove the obvious
Paul

On Dec 1, 8:06 am, "Paul E. Lehmann"
> wrote:
> michael wrote:
> > I always prune my vines quite early in winter,and wonder whether I am
> > doing the right thing.I find that pruning in the depth of winter
> > (although I am in England,and winter day temperatures rarely get below
> > freezing)when the outside temperature is in the 2-5 degree Celsius
> > range,very uncomfortable and cold.So I tend to prune the vines when
> > the leaves have fallen,or just a few yellow leaves remaining.I carry
> > out cane pruning so that there is always quite a lot of material to
> > remove,so I tend to do it as early as possible-the canes on the
> > varieties I grow always seem to ripen well,and I judge that nothing
> > much will happen to the vine after this.And the canes which I am
> > laying down (Double Guyot) will continue to be there and keep ripening
> > anyway.
> > All of the books suggest that one should wait until the vines are
> > completely dormant,so I wonder whether my method will cause any
> > problems.
> > I would welcome some comments.
> > Cheers,Michael
>
> Michael, I have heard that it is best to wait two months into dormancy
> before pruning and that pruning too early can cause early bud break which
> may suffer freeze damage in the spring. The latter may have some actual
> documented research behind it.
>
> What some growers do is a "rough" pruning say in January - or about two
> months into dormancy (here in the Mid Atlantic) leaving several node length
> of excess cane and then do the final pruning right before bud break. Two
> years ago I pruned early (January) and had severe damage to primary buds
> during a cold streak in mid April. This year I think I will hold off the
> final pruning until bud swell. Others comments would be appreciated on
> this topic.
>
> --
> To reply via email, remove the obvious
> Paul

The following is a link to a good article on pruning.
http://www.bunchgrapes.com/pruning_grapes.html

It discusses the "rough" pruning that Paul mentioned. Most people do
wait until January or Feburary, but I know of someone in the Pacific
Northwest who is doing his rough pruning now. As long as you have had
a frost to send the vines into dormancy, it should be fine to prune
now (at least roughly).

Stephen

It doesn't seem to be a problem with your moderate winter
temperatures. I don't even touch my vines until early april for fear
of injuring them thru the act of pruning. We get temps near -20F, not
often, but it does happen. I would say that what your doing is OK if
you don't have to worry about frosts. Pruning late does delay bud
break. Your track record should tell you that you're doing nothing
wrong.

Bob

On Dec 1, 5:39*am, michael > wrote:
> I always prune my vines quite early in winter,and wonder whether I am
> doing the right thing.I find that pruning in the depth of winter
> (although I am in England,and winter day temperatures rarely get below
> freezing)when the outside temperature is in the 2-5 degree Celsius
> range,very uncomfortable and cold.So I tend to prune the vines when
> the leaves have fallen,or just a few yellow leaves remaining.I carry
> out cane pruning so that there is always quite a lot of material to
> remove,so I tend to do it as early as possible-the canes on the
> varieties I grow always seem to ripen well,and I judge that nothing
> much will happen to the vine after this.And the canes which I am
> laying down (Double Guyot) will continue to be there and keep ripening
> anyway.
> All of the books suggest that one should wait until the vines are
> completely dormant,so I wonder whether my method will cause any
> problems.
> I would welcome some comments.
> Cheers,Michael

The only thing I disagree with Lon Rombough about is the Felco
pruners. I have a pair and they are great but cost $45. I got a pair
of pruners at Home Depot for $7.95 and they just as good and real
sharp. They actually look like Felco. I don't know what brand they are
but have the red handles just like Felco's.

Bob

On Dec 1, 7:26*pm, shbailey > wrote:
> On Dec 1, 8:06 am, "Paul E. Lehmann"
>
>
>
> > wrote:
> > michael wrote:
> > > I always prune my vines quite early in winter,and wonder whether I am
> > > doing the right thing.I find that pruning in the depth of winter
> > > (although I am in England,and winter day temperatures rarely get below
> > > freezing)when the outside temperature is in the 2-5 degree Celsius
> > > range,very uncomfortable and cold.So I tend to prune the vines when
> > > the leaves have fallen,or just a few yellow leaves remaining.I carry
> > > out cane pruning so that there is always quite a lot of material to
> > > remove,so I tend to do it as early as possible-the canes on the
> > > varieties I grow always seem to ripen well,and I judge that nothing
> > > much will happen to the vine after this.And the canes which I am
> > > laying down (Double Guyot) will continue to be there and keep ripening
> > > anyway.
> > > All of the books suggest that one should wait until the vines are
> > > completely dormant,so I wonder whether my method will cause any
> > > problems.
> > > I would welcome some comments.
> > > Cheers,Michael
>
> > Michael, I have heard that it is best to wait two months into dormancy
> > before pruning and that pruning too early can cause early bud break which
> > may suffer freeze damage in the spring. *The latter may have some actual
> > documented research behind it.
>
> > What some growers do is a "rough" pruning say in January - or about two
> > months into dormancy (here in the Mid Atlantic) leaving several node length
> > of excess cane and then do the final pruning right before bud break. *Two
> > years ago I pruned early (January) and had severe damage to primary buds
> > during a cold streak in mid April. *This year I think I will hold off the
> > final pruning until bud swell. *Others comments would be appreciated on
> > this topic.
>
> > --
> > To reply via email, remove the obvious
> > Paul
>
> The following is a link to a good article on pruning.http://www.bunchgrapes.com/pruning_grapes.html
>
> It discusses the "rough" pruning that Paul mentioned. *Most people do
> wait until January or Feburary, but I know of someone in the Pacific
> Northwest who is doing his rough pruning now. *As long as you have had
> a frost to send the vines into dormancy, it should be fine to prune
> now (at least roughly).
>
> Stephen

On 2 Dec, 03:13, wrote:
> The only thing I disagree with Lon Rombough about is the Felco
> pruners. I have a pair and they are great but cost $45. I got a pair
> of pruners at Home Depot for $7.95 and they just as good and real
> sharp. They actually look like Felco. I don't know what brand they are
> but have the red handles just like Felco's.
>
> Bob
>
> On Dec 1, 7:26*pm, shbailey > wrote:
>
>
>
> > On Dec 1, 8:06 am, "Paul E. Lehmann"
>
> > > wrote:
> > > michael wrote:
> > > > I always prune my vines quite early in winter,and wonder whether I am
> > > > doing the right thing.I find that pruning in the depth of winter
> > > > (although I am in England,and winter day temperatures rarely get below
> > > > freezing)when the outside temperature is in the 2-5 degree Celsius
> > > > range,very uncomfortable and cold.So I tend to prune the vines when
> > > > the leaves have fallen,or just a few yellow leaves remaining.I carry
> > > > out cane pruning so that there is always quite a lot of material to
> > > > remove,so I tend to do it as early as possible-the canes on the
> > > > varieties I grow always seem to ripen well,and I judge that nothing
> > > > much will happen to the vine after this.And the canes which I am
> > > > laying down (Double Guyot) will continue to be there and keep ripening
> > > > anyway.
> > > > All of the books suggest that one should wait until the vines are
> > > > completely dormant,so I wonder whether my method will cause any
> > > > problems.
> > > > I would welcome some comments.
> > > > Cheers,Michael
>
> > > Michael, I have heard that it is best to wait two months into dormancy
> > > before pruning and that pruning too early can cause early bud break which
> > > may suffer freeze damage in the spring. *The latter may have some actual
> > > documented research behind it.
>
> > > What some growers do is a "rough" pruning say in January - or about two
> > > months into dormancy (here in the Mid Atlantic) leaving several node length
> > > of excess cane and then do the final pruning right before bud break. *Two
> > > years ago I pruned early (January) and had severe damage to primary buds
> > > during a cold streak in mid April. *This year I think I will hold off the
> > > final pruning until bud swell. *Others comments would be appreciated on
> > > this topic.
>
> > > --
> > > To reply via email, remove the obvious
> > > Paul
>
> > The following is a link to a good article on pruning.http://www.bunchgrapes.com/pruning_grapes.html
>
> > It discusses the "rough" pruning that Paul mentioned. *Most people do
> > wait until January or Feburary, but I know of someone in the Pacific
> > Northwest who is doing his rough pruning now. *As long as you have had
> > a frost to send the vines into dormancy, it should be fine to prune
> > now (at least roughly).
>
> > Stephen- Hide quoted text -
>
> - Show quoted text -

Thanks for all the comments.It seems that pruning is delayed in colder
winter climates,such that bud burst is pushed back past a damaging
frost.We certainly get air frosts sometimes in April and may,but they
rarely push the temperature lower than about -2C.I assume that one
needs much lower temperatures to do real damage to the emerging
shoots.In England it can be an advantage to have a slightly earlier
bud burst,so that the season gets off to an early start.I noted the
useful comments about rough pruning early,and then tipping the vines
later on.Cheers,Micheal