How to Winterize Grapevines
- 1). Choose an adequate location when planting your grapes. Avoid low, flat areas that collect cold, dense air. Plant on hillsides using a trellis system to hold the plants high up off of the ground.
- 2). Choose an appropriate variety of grapes for your climate. If you live in an area prone to early frost, choose an early summer ripening variety. Avoid harvesting grapes just before a frost. Give the plants plenty of time after harvest to reach full dormancy before the frost.
- 3). Periodically thin clusters to one or two per shoot during the growing season to advance ripening. Harvest the grapes as soon as they become ripe.
- 4). Protect the trunk of the grapevine by creating a hill of dirt around it. Make sure to cover the graft union. Remove the hill once the danger of cold is over.
- 5). Allow the grapevines plenty of time to become dormant by decreasing watering, pruning and fertilizing as the growing season progresses. Avoid promoting any new growth after the harvest.
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