Raised bed grape vines - Ask Extension
I am planting 3 grapevines in my yard. To ensure quality soil, I installed a raised bed. The plants will arrive this week. Further reading has m...
Knowledgebase
Raised bed grape vines #551077
Asked April 04, 2019, 5:33 PM EDT
I am planting 3 grapevines in my yard. To ensure quality soil, I installed a raised bed. The plants will arrive this week. Further reading has me wondering if the raised beds will be alright in our climate (48187) I understand that much mulching will be required in the winter.
Am I okay to plant in raised beds??
Am I okay to plant in raised beds??
Wayne County Michigan
Expert Response
What kind of grapes are they?
Normally grapes don't require raised beds why do you want to use them?
There is a lot of clay where we are planting, and I wanted to introduce better soil, with the ground frozen I couldn’t really do much with it. Also, I wanted it obviously separated so that our lawn service doesn’t weed wack the plants. We are planting in an existing structure.
Okay the raised bed should not be a big problem. Grapes can handle heavier soils and that really means you will probably not have to fertilize. Mulch can be tricky as it provides a place for mice and voles to live in the winter and they can girdle the plants. Winter care depends a lot on what type of grape you are planting. Do you know if they are grafted onto rootstocks or own rooted. Specifically are they vinifera wine grapes.
You will find this series of videos on YouTube by Tom Zabadal enlightening.
MSU also has a set of Grape pages at https://www.canr.msu.edu/grapes/index
They are GRASEE-Z Champagne 3 yr
I see from the variety description that they are cold hardy to zero F and reccomended for zones 6 throuh 9. You are in the cold part of the USDA plant hardiness zone 6.
I would expect that you will see significant winter injury to the vine when we have cold winters. You will want to train them accordingly and cover the graft unions with mulch in the winters, maintaining some buds above the graft union to restore the trunks after a hard winter such as the one we just had. I think Dr. Zabadal explains this in some of the videos I referred you to earlier.
I would expect that you will see significant winter injury to the vine when we have cold winters. You will want to train them accordingly and cover the graft unions with mulch in the winters, maintaining some buds above the graft union to restore the trunks after a hard winter such as the one we just had. I think Dr. Zabadal explains this in some of the videos I referred you to earlier.
