Training a Grapevine on a Trellis: Year One Through Year Four

Training a Grapevine on a Trellis in Year One

In its first year a grapevine has one job: grow shoots up to the fruiting wire. At planting, prune the vine back to two strong buds. Push a stake in beside it, let the shoots grow, tie them loosely as they lengthen, and remove every flower cluster. That is all the training a first-year vine needs, and no fruit should ripen on it.

The reasoning is the same in every extension guide. A newly planted vine has a small root system, and the first seasons are spent building a permanent trunk and arms that will carry fruiting wood for decades. Clusters left on a young vine draw energy away from that framework.

1. Prune the newly set vine to two strong buds.
2. Set a training stake of bamboo or rebar. University of Illinois Extension suggests one 4 to 5 feet tall.
3. Tie shoots to the stake with twine as they grow, loosely enough that the tie does not cut in.
4. Remove all clusters through the season.
5. Leave the leaves on. They feed the roots and thicken the future trunk.

Guides differ on how many shoots to keep. The University of New Hampshire lets all shoots grow in the planting year, and Illinois ties the 3 to 4 most vigorous ones to the stake. Ohio State trains for a straight trunk from the start: remove unwanted lateral shoots through the summer, stake and tie the new shoot, and pinch off its tip if it reaches the top wire at around 5 to 5.5 feet, so that laterals grow out along the wire. Either route ends the season with at least one straight, woody cane to choose as the trunk.

The Four-Year Schedule

University of Minnesota Extension lays out the framework in four stages, one per year. Its schedule suits cold climates where young vines grow slowly, and it is a safe default for a first vine.

Year	Dormant-season job	Growing-season job	Fruit
1	Prune to two buds at planting	Grow shoots to the fruiting wire on a stake	Remove all clusters
2	Keep one or two woody canes as the trunk, remove the rest	Finish the trellis and fruiting wire	Remove all clusters
3	Select one cordon for each side and tie it down before bud swell	Let shoots grow from the nodes on the cordons	Half crop, one cluster per shoot, on vigorous vines
4	Cut canes back to 2 to 4 buds	Tie and position shoots	Full crop, at least two clusters per shoot

In warmer regions and on strong vines the framework can form a year sooner, which is covered below.

Build the Trellis by the End of Year Two

A stake carries the vine through the first season, so the trellis does not have to exist on planting day. Minnesota advises completing it and installing the fruiting wire by the end of the second season. Building it before planting is still easier, because you are not working around roots.

The University of New Hampshire gives the dimensions for a home trellis. Set firmly braced posts at intervals of 10 to 15 feet along the row. End posts go at least 3 feet deep with 6 feet left above ground, since they take the tension of the wires and the weight of the crop.

System	Wires
Two-wire (Kniffin)	Two strands of No. 9 or No. 10 wire, one at 3 feet and one at 5 to 6 feet
Vertical shoot positioned	One support wire at about 30 inches, with three pairs of catch wires at 1 foot intervals above it

Allow each vine enough wire for its arms. Illinois keeps mature cordons to 4 feet on each side of the trunk, which works out to 8 feet of trellis per vine.

Year Two: Choose the Trunk

Prune in the dormant season. Illinois times it after the coldest part of winter has passed and before the buds begin to swell, usually February and early March in Illinois. Ohio State gives late February through March.

One year after planting, cut the vine back to 1 or 2 strong upright stems, which become the trunk or trunks. Tie the trunk to a training stake that is fixed firmly to the bottom wire so it stays straight. Remove any shoots that emerge low on the trunk during the summer, and take off all clusters again.

If the first year’s growth was weak, cut back hard and regrow the trunk. Penn State Extension notes that weak canes sometimes need to be cut back to approximately two to four buds. A thin, crooked trunk stays with the vine for life.

Year Three: Tie Down the Cordons

Cordons are the permanent horizontal arms. Before growth starts in the third spring, select one cane for each side of the trunk, remove the others, and tie the two chosen canes along the fruiting wire before bud swell. Illinois describes looping or spiraling each cane around the wire two or three times for a secure hold.

Through the summer, let a shoot grow from each node on the new cordons. Minnesota makes an exception where the nodes are crowded, with less than 4 to 6 inches between them, and thins the shoots there. A healthy, vigorous vine can carry a half crop this year, meaning one cluster per shoot. A weak vine should be stripped of clusters once more.

Year Four and After: Spurs and a Full Crop

From here on the framework is permanent and pruning becomes an annual routine. Each winter, cut the canes that grew from the cordon back to short spurs. Minnesota gives 2 to 4 buds per spur depending on the training system. Illinois gives three to six buds, with spurs spaced about 6 inches apart on each side and a total of forty to sixty buds on a mature vine, depending on the cultivar.

Choose canes about the thickness of a pencil; Illinois specifies one-third to one-half inch in diameter. Leave two renewal spurs near the trunk so there is always young wood available to replace an arm. With the framework filled in, the vine can carry at least two clusters per shoot, and Minnesota’s target density is an average of 6 shoots per linear foot of cordon. Sharp bypass pruners make clean cuts on one-year wood, and a guide to choosing pruning shears covers the sizes that suit this job. Grapes fit into the same dormant-season session as other fruit, as laid out in the late winter pruning guide.

Why Some Guides Form the Arms a Year Earlier

Not every source follows the four-year pace. Illinois and Ohio State both describe forming the arms in the second season when the vine is strong enough.

Source	Trunk selected	Arms or cordons formed	First crop
University of Minnesota Extension	Year 2	Year 3	Half crop in year 3
University of Illinois Extension	Year 2	Year 2	Small crop in year 3
Ohio State University Extension	Year 1	Year 2	Year 3

The deciding factor is growth. If the trunk cane reached the top wire in its first summer, you can tie the strongest cane to the wire in year two and start the arms that season. If it fell short, follow the slower schedule. Pushing a weak vine ahead produces thin arms that have to be replaced.

Common Training Mistakes

Most problems trace back to a few habits in the first two years.

• Leaving clusters on in year one or two. Every source calls for removing them.
• Tying too tightly. A trunk thickens quickly, and string left snug will girdle it. New Hampshire’s instruction is to tie loosely, and ties should be checked through the season.
• Keeping a weak trunk. Cutting back to two to four buds and starting again costs one year and saves many.
• Skipping a winter. Unpruned vines build up old wood and carry far more than the forty to sixty buds a mature vine should keep.
• Underbuilding the end posts. Set them 3 feet deep and brace them before the vine has any weight on the wire.

Quick recap

• Year one: two buds at planting, a stake, loose ties, no fruit, shoots to the fruiting wire
• Year two: keep 1 or 2 canes as the trunk and finish the trellis
• Year three: tie down one cordon per side before bud swell; half crop at most
• Year four on: spur prune each winter to 2 to 4 buds, in February or early March
• Trellis: posts 10 to 15 feet apart, wires at 3 feet and 5 to 6 feet for a two-wire system