Guerilla Gardening with Grapes
We are always looking for hardy perennials we can add to our little home orchard.
One way to get free perennials that are adapted to your climate and growing conditions is to take cuttings from thriving perennials already growing near you.
Last fall, Tyler began the process of trying to bring some amazing hardy table grapes to our place from a untended grape planting in the landscaping of his office building.
Enter: Tyler’s unsuspecting office building-
He began the process by marking the vines of the best tasting grapes so he would know which ones to take cuttings from in the late winter.
While the plants were still dormant in late March, he took about 2 feet of cuttings from two year old wood. You don’t want to take cuttings from the previous year’s growth, but from the year before that. This involves cutting the vine back to near the beginning of the two year old wood (which will be a little thicker and woodier than the previous years growth) and then cutting the previous year’s wood off. Grape cuttings will have a cut on both top and bottom because of this. The cutting will root from the bottom, so Tyler cut the bottom at a steep angle and the top he cut flat. This increases the surface area for the roots to spring from at the bottom, and decreases the surface area at the top of the cutting so that it doesn’t lose as much water out of the top of the cutting as it heals. It also helps you keep track of the proper directionality for planting the dormant cutting, which really just looks like a stick.
Don’t worry about the existing plant. Grapes and many other perennials love to be pruned and that’s basically all you’re doing!
After taking the cuttings, he put them in a plastic bag in the refrigerator until he was ready to plant them root side down in some potting soil. If you need to wait for any length of time before planting them out, this is a great way to keep them moist and prevent them from waking up and leafing out.
Grapes are particularly good at rooting from cuttings and the cuttings are now leafing out in our greenhouse. Tyler placed several in each pot and will soon separate the ones that are leafing out each into their own pot to be planted here!
