Since grapes are a heat and light-loving culture, in order to obtain a high level of yield or increase in the volume of fruiting, special care will be needed for the plant. One of these care options is a trellis for grapes, which is a support for any part of the plant; without it, the grape bush is helpless. From this publication you will learn about the types of supports for grapes, how to make and install them yourself.
Trellis for grapes: purpose of the device
In the wild, grapes grow chaotically, relying on trees and other vertical structures or spreading their branches on the ground. But such an arrangement does not at all contribute to high yields and an increase in the taste of the berries. In the third year of life, the grapes will need a reliable support.
Trellis for climbers – the most productive and economical method of organizing the placement of vines, flowers, raspberries, as well as the design ensures excellent conditions for fruiting. Strong and durable frame has all the necessary qualities to ensure the growth and development of a formless vine.
Thanks to the support, the vines are evenly spaced along the trellis and are well lit by the sun. As a result, the leaves produce more organic matter, which provides an increase in yield, while accelerating the ripening of fruits, increasing their quality. The bushes of the plant are better ventilated, as a result of which they are less affected by fungal diseases.
The trellis is an artificially created vertical support that ensures optimal growth and development of the plant. This design must be durable and durable, because the vine creates a significant load during fruiting.
The best option is to create a trellis for grapes with your own hands. To do this, you must first consider the design of the product, make drawings of the trellis for grapes, plan its location in the summer cottage. It is very important to set the trellis at the correct distance. Do not place structures too closely, thereby trying to increase the number of planted plants. The main thing is to provide the vineyard in the country with enough light and excellent air flow.
Before you create a support for the grapes with your own hands, you need to get acquainted with the types of these structures in order to choose the most suitable option for your site.
Helpful advice! Growing grapes in the country is different from the industrial method. In large agricultural farms, the trellis is placed in such a way that there is free access to machinery for the plants. In small vineyards, special mechanization is rarely used, so the choice of supports for grapes is much wider.
According to the material of manufacture, the frame for grapes can be divided into the following categories:
- plastic;
- asbestos cement;
- metal;
- galvanized;
- wooden.
The safest and most eco-friendly option is wood. The disadvantage of a wooden trellis is that it is a very short-lived raw material, and grapes have been growing for more than a dozen years. But if, nevertheless, it was decided to make tapestries for grapes from this material, it is best to give preference to the most durable and durable wood species, for example, oak, ash, acacia or chestnut are recommended. Alder, linden and maple – trees that are absolutely unsuitable for the manufacture of support.
Regardless of the selected material, the workpiece must be carefully processed before starting work. To do this, the pads are first cleaned of bark, and then coated with resin or diesel fuel. You can also soak the workpiece for two weeks in a solution of copper sulphate. Before installing ready-made supports for grapes, it is necessary to pour abundantly 5% solution of Bordeaux liquid on the place of installation.
More modern will look like metal supports. The advantage of using such trellis is the durability of the design. In addition, the preparatory stage for the installation and construction of metal supports will be greatly simplified.
Lanes for metal grapes can be made of iron or galvanized pipes. Before installing the iron structure, it must be painted to prevent rust. Trellis made of asbestos pipes or small plastic poles are quite popular.
What material is preferable to use for the manufacture of tapestries – the choice is completely dependent on the desire of the gardener.
Before you make a trellis with your own hands, it is important to choose the optimal size of the structure. Experts recommend for the grapes to use the trellis, the height of which should not significantly exceed the height of a person. It is best that it is equal to 190 cm, and the optimal distance between two columns should not exceed 250 centimeters.
For maximum illumination during the day and better ventilation of plants, it is recommended to locate structures from north to south. This is due to the direction of the sun during the day. Such a planting scheme plus abundant foliage will allow you to get an excellent grape harvest.
After the installation of the supports between them, a strong metal wire is used or thin pipes are used. The use of such materials will avoid the annual tension of the ropes, which in any case will be torn.
The best material for tensioning is copper wire. It will certainly keep the vine, as well as protect the plant from disease damage. However, copper wire attracts hunters for non-ferrous metals to the site. Therefore, it is better to use galvanized wire, and this material is more affordable.
Usually use a wire thickness of 3-4 mm. The method of fastening this material to the support may be different. For this purpose, ordinary nails, metal staples or wire rings are suitable, and you can also attach by extending through supports. In the case of a metal support for fixing the wire, you need to pre-drill the holes through which it will be drawn.
There are no clear requirements regarding the height of the trellis. In the case of industrial grape growing, pillars are installed with this indicator from 90 to 250 cm, in a household, they can reach heights of up to 350 cm. On average, this value is about 2 m.
On the Internet there are so many master classes with drawings of trellis for grapes do-it-yourself. Also on the construction portals are examples of photo trellis for grapes.
Helpful advice! To grape trellis sneaked more good, the wire between the supports is better to pull in several rows. Their optimum amount is 3-4.
The first stage of any master class that teaches how to make a trellis for grapes begins with the choice of the type of support that is best suited for your garden plot.
By design, there are the following categories of supports for grapes:
- monoplane with and without roof;
- two-plane V- and Y-shaped;
- decorative.
The simplest and most convenient option for efficiently organizing the planting of grape varieties with medium-sized fruits is the use of a single-plane support. The design of such a trellis is very easy to manufacture. For its creation will need about four pillars and crossbeams, as well as wire and cement mortar to strengthen the pillars.
The appearance of a single-plane trellis is a few blocks with crossbars, which are located on the same line at equal intervals. On the supports fixed wire.
This type of trellis has several advantages:
- the ability to perform the planting of other plants between the rows of the trellis;
- grapes are easy to care for;
- plants receive uniform illumination, which means that fruits ripen faster;
- easy to create with your own hands.
It’s very easy to make such a one-plane grape grid for yourself. To do this, you first need to fix the supports in the ground. Then dig or drill holes into which the trellis posts should be placed. To support reliably stood for a long time and withstood the pressure of the vine, the wells must have a depth of about 80 cm, but not less. At the bottom of the pit, a cushion of sand about 20 cm thick is created.
After that, the installed support must be cemented and left for a while until the foundation hardens. Experts do not recommend exceeding the distance between the supports by more than 3 meters.
Then on the top of the structure are mounted crossbar. It is on them that the main load of the weight of the grape branches falls. Between the columns, the wire is tensioned in several rows. The optimal distance between them is 45-50 cm. The bottom row is best located at a height of about 40 cm from the ground level, and the top row is 5 cm below the trellis crossbar.
The most effective is the use of single-plane trellis with a visor. This design provides the most optimal use of plant area, and also contributes to better lighting and ventilation of the grapes. It is very simple to make such a trellis for grapes with your own hands, photos of these designs are easy to find on the net.
The use of a single-plane trellis allows the formation of grape bushes with 2 to 6 sleeves. With an increase in the number of branches, the distance between the bushes increases.
In the case of densely planted in a row of grape bushes, amateur gardeners use cross placement of sleeves. The young vine, which will form the sleeve, is allowed to grow horizontally along the ground in the direction of the neighboring bush. Similarly, come from the next branch of the bush. This planting allows you to accumulate a large stock of old wood, and therefore, makes it possible to increase the crop yield per unit area.
Helpful advice! It is best to use aluminum or copper wire with a diameter of 2 to 4 mm for a trellis. It is undesirable to use a metal product because it is prone to rust, which means it will have to change the wire very often.
Bipolar lanes are best used for large-grape varieties. This design allows you to evenly distribute the above-ground part of the bush on both planes. This type of support eliminates the possibility to plant other plants between rows of grapes. But such a tapestry has many advantages, namely:
- simple care of grapes;
To make the construction unobtrusive, you should buy a wooden trellis in the form of a lattice arch for the garden. Models with an unusual and original design will help focus on climbing plants on the site.
Any amateur gardener can install and create a trellis for grapes with his own hands. The main thing is to follow the tips for treating the materials for the trellis, and also to adhere to the necessary distances between the poles and the wire and not to forget about the reliable ribs of the structure. If you do everything right, then the finished trellis will serve in the vineyard (photo) for many years.
