PRUNING AND MOWING

_____Pruning prior to bud break is essential. Some vines benefit from pruning in early spring (before it's warm), so we postpone this task as long as possible. Vines on your patio or at lower elevations (<1700') may be fully leafed out due to the warmth of your house while ours are still dormant. All grapevines need to be pruned every year, and our pruning techniques provide a good guideline when caring for your own vines. _____After pruning, the buds "break" -- the canes and leaves start to grow -- and the blossoms form later. A late freeze could always damage the delicately forming greenery, and a hailstorm during blossom could devastate our crop. Good farmers sleep well at night because they don't worry about situations they can't control.

CUTTING THE CANES

LEFT: Geraldo prunes an eight year old barbera vine near our winery. RIGHT: Canes must be moved to the center of the aisle so that the flail (mower) can pulverize them. Intact canes create a host for critters and disease while making the vineyard look shabby. We mow each vineyard immediately upon completion of pruning.

THE WHERE & WHY

LEFT: Skillful pruning removes all dead wood. Notice that no canes sprouted from this arm. This vine died back several inches and developed strangely due to freezing winds two seasons ago. New growth asserts itself later, and the vine recovers. RIGHT: We prune back every cane and leave just two buds. The basal bud can be considered a component of the "trunk" and "doesn't count."

QUITE A BIG "LAWN" TO MOW...

Click on each link to see the pictures. HERE HE COMES: Mowing exposes the vines to sunlight, removes pest habitat, and decreases competition for soil moisture. Driving, working, and walking require less effort in a mowed vineyard as compared to a disked vineyard. THERE HE GOES: Our flail obliterates the canes and grass. (We must remove rocks from the rows or else our mower will be obliterated!) The resultant mulch enriches the soil and protects against erosion. We mow four or five times per season.