grapes will take about 4 years to produce. Great idea, the fence will work perfectly. I have my grapes planted 6 ft apart.

Good Luck

To harvest the best fruit, a lot of pruning will be required and the old vines will have to be cut free from the fence so the fence won't be completely covered much of the time. If you prune in spring, it will be about 2 months before the vines have regrown to cover the fence, I think.

If you are in a humid area, 1 or 2 timely applications of fungicide may be necessary to harvest fruit as well as possibly a single insecticide application which can be in the same tank as a fungicide spray. This is all I generally need here in southeastern NY- your pest pressure will likely be different. Even here, some sites, some varieties grow grapes without spray, especially seeded varieties. Grapes are relatively low maintenance as far as pest control.

About the fence- I think you overestimate what it would take to remove it. A man with a cutting torch and a pick-up could get it out of there in an hour. Probably for free, as these things can be cleaned up and resold, or just sold for scrap.

Scraping off peeling paint by hand and repainting is a project for somebody who likes the look of wrought iron. But I'd definitely do this if you're planning to keep it, as nothing will hide it year-round.

About the grapes- really need to know what part of the country you're in before suggesting kinds/varieties, or telling you how to care for them. Yours would be a low trellis compared to what's usually recommended. Most of the vine growth gets cut back to pencil-size wood every winter if you're after fruit, so much of your fence will show except in Summer and Fall. And they do need regular spraying, and you have to harvest and deal with the crop.

If you are in the west I doubt you'd need to spray at all. It makes absolutely no difference that your fence is a bit lower than typical to commercial production- you can grow a grape most anywhere. Air and light are all that really matters in a home orchard situation.

Around here, people often use grapes as an ornamental for an arbor and don't prune at all like would be done for commercial production (they leave a ton more wood) and still get plenty of grapes.

I live in central oklahoma, and the fence is only waist high to me (I am 5'7". I am not looking to completely hide it year around I didn't think that would happen with a vine type plant, but at least decorate it some...

With deference to harvestman, bunch grapes everywhere are subject to several fungus and insect pests, and zone 7 and south face a deadlier plague. Here I have better luck with muscadines, on a 5' single wire trellis.

Here is a link that might be useful: Pierce's Disease

Hi, ezzirah.

You can certainly do well with grapes there- all kinds as long as they are winter hardy for you. Multi-purpose fruit spray sold in garden centers will take care of them just fine.

Here is a link that might be useful: Oklahoma Grape Guide

Grapes will "wonder" about as far as you let them. In time, a single plant could cover your whole fence. If I were you (and you do decide to grow them), I'd look for a variety from the university of Arkansas such as Jupiter and plant them 8 ft apart. They will require some training and pruning, and since you are in OK, likely some spraying if you want to get fruit. If they grow well, you may be able to get a small taste in the second year, but more likely the third. The link below is the best I have seen for training / pruning info.

Here is a link that might be useful: Grape Growing

Eskota, I didn't know where Ezira was writing from. We used to grow seedless grapes in CA with zero spray input and never saw a pest. Here in the humid northeast I consistantly harvest grapes with a 1 or 2 spray schedule and have for decades. This includes the susceptable varieties. Myclobutanil is majic for black rot.

Now Oklahoma I know nothing about!

I agree with harvestman, it all depends on your local climate. I can grow grapes here with zero spray, the only thing I fight are the birds and sometimes wasps. Don't assume the worst case or let others scare you... it might be easier than you think.

Actually, OK is a great place to grow grapes. They have a young wine grape industry, succeed with many of the European kinds. Biggest problem for bunch grapes is high heat at night, which affects ripening. There are recent concerns there about Pierce's, but minimal spraying keeps the chewing insects from being vectors for it. Here (and in the SE part of OK) you won't keep the leaves on bunch grapes all summer without Captan. And you often see late frost get the new growth/flowers. Muscadines come out much later, have healthier foliage.

Just another thought about that 3' fence- 4 or 5 metal fenceposts attached to it (maybe next year) would let you add the 5' wire and train the vines up higher. Then you could do something like the Oregon handbook illustrates. Not have to bend over so much, have fruit hanging to the ground.

Hi -

We are staining our deck with a semi-transparent stain. We have grape vines wrapped around our trelless. It is unavoidable that some stain will get on the grape vine stem (there are no leaves yet). Do you think the stain will kill the vine? Thanks, Christy

I'm interested in the fence question, too. I have two metal cattle panels, 4' x 12' each. I was hoping to use them in the back of my kitchen garden (with lighter weight 4' wire fence for the rest of the garden) and would like to grow a couple of concord grapes on the panels. Has anyone else tried this?

Concords are a little "iffy" with my short season, but I'm hoping a few early light frosts won't hurt them too much. I have a great apple tree that ripens in mid-October and usually we get fruit :)