How to Save a Grape Vine?
I have just moved into a house with a once beautiful but very neglected garden. There is a grapevine that was never trained and the former owner says he never pruned it because the grapes were sour the first 2 years he planted it ( about 5 years) can it be saved to produce fruit? It does provide beautiful foilage so I don’t want to rip it out.
Also there is stinging nettle all over the place – best way to get rid of this without chemical pesticides? I have a toddler who puts everything in her mouth so nothing too poisonous
Wait till winter and then prune the plant. See: pruning grape vines.
On your nettle problem either spray it with Roundup or hoe the nettles down or use a weed whip (string trimmer). I guarantee if your toddler eats a nettle once she wont do it again.
Get a green house?
Your Grape vine can be pruned and trained to grow on a trellis or on wires like a vineyard. Normally it takes about 5 yrs for the Grape Vine to become well established, so your grape is just entering its’ prime and will be good for many more years if you take care of it.
Start by finding where the trunk comes out of the ground and then start pruning up the trunk until you reach the first level you want canes growing, Tie them up and then prune up to the second layer you want canes, and continue. If you Google "pruning grapes" you will get complete instructions with diagrams showing the proper way to prune grapes.
The best time to prune grapes is when they are dormant in the winter, so they won’t catch a disease from the open wound.