No one can answer that question but you. Grapes can be cut back very hard and will regrow. So you could either cut these back, dig out/poison the stumps and get rid of them altogether. Or you could cut them hard back, provide some support and see if they produce any fruit worth having. Your decision. But they do need to be kept out of any trees or shrubs.

@floral_uk Thanks for the kind response! I spent a long time getting them out of all the trees and shrubs, so they are now in their own self-contained jumble. Before I decided to get rid of them or not, I just wanted to check and ensure these weren't anything super desirable. I know zero about a plant such as this. Much appreciated!

You won't know if they are desirable until you see/try the fruit. It's not possible to tell just by looking at the foliage.Then you can decide if they are worth keeping and training properly.

is there any indication that a previous owner actually planted them ... as compared to shooting out a birds butt??? .. like location ... siting.. etc ...

if bird sown ... they are most likely not true to form ... and odds are in favor of it NOT being a quality fruit ...

if planted by someone.. one would think they would have selected and bought a named variety .... so you might get something like a worthy fruit ... like a concord ...

i too inherited a 35 year old clump of grapal nightmare at my first house ... lol ... the problem with success with grape.;. is what you plan on doing with a couple bushels of very short lived ... unfreezable fruit ...

you either make jelly.. or wine .... and back then... i was not going to do either... [BTW.. it was pre WWW so i didnt have any handy information]

had i not ended up moving.... it would have been put to death ... as there was a month to 6 weeks... where fermenting.. rotting fruit... was a nightmare.. including all the stoned birds ... wasps.. and bees ...

there is a very active fruit forum ... you are in the wrong forum for a production crop ...

there are very specific pruning guidelines ... timing.. etc ...

if you google vineyards pruning.. you would probably be staggered by how far grapes are cut back .. ON PURPOSE ... and its not a fast.. not easy job.. especially the first time.. you try to tame a monster like this ...

and i would start my analysis on whether i wanted to save this thing.. by figuring out if its in full sun .... where grapes grow best ... it may have been.. 20 years ago.. when planted.. but i see a lot of trees around it now.. and even even you worked them to perfection ... you may never get a great crop ...

sooooo .... decide if you are interested in learning.. in working.. etc ... then location .. then proper pruning... including a good tree saw and hand pruners ....

it might be a lot easier to cut it flush to the ground.. and round up the stump ... like i was planning .... and dragging it to the burn pile and being done with it ... oh.. you could probably make about 20 wreaths out of the cut vine ...

it might be much easier ... if you want to dabble in grape ... to kill this one.. and mail order some good grape stock ... and plant it in a proper site ... you might get good.. quality fruit inside a year or three ... as compared to working your tail off on this one.. and not getting fruit for years ...

good luck

ken

@floral_uk Thanks. It did have fruit over the summer, I think I grabbed a photo or two, but nothing beyond that.

@ken_adrian Thank you. Yes, these were planted. They were held up by a huge arbor which we got rid of right when we bought the house. The previous owner was a horticulturalist from what I can tell, but these vines clearly hadn't been tended to in years.

Your advice is really helpful. I don't really have a desire to make a hobby out of wine or jelly, and the spot it is now is pretty much the center of the yard, where I wouldn't mind having a nice garden.

The wreaths are a great idea! Hadn't thought of that.

Something I never know about with gardening is if OLDER is somehow better. What you seem to be telling me is that this is not the case. Will keep researching, esp that other forum. THANK YOU!

dblank - Ken likes killing stuff but if you are curious you could just wait a little longer and see what sort of fruit you get. If it turns out to be a tasty variety old stock is fine. Grapes are constantly renewed by pruning and vines can live for many, many years in production. He's right about going to the fruit and orchards forum for grape specific info.

@floral_uk Ha! Thanks. I'll check out the other forums. I think the real issues I am having are:

1. Placement: they are right in the middle of what would make a nice flower garden.

2. I have zero desire to garden fruit & veggies. From what I hear, it can be a lot of hard work, and we have animals in the area (normal stuff: deep, rabbits, etc) that would undoubtedly need to be fenced off. Also: we live SUPER close to a Whole Foods.

The old grape vines are a real curiosity for me though!

Thanks!
-Dan

Personally, I'd keep them. It takes many many years to get a decent sized grape vine. If you change your mind you can always kill them...but if you kill them you can't change your mind later. A grape arbor provides wonderful shade in the summer.

@edlincoln Thank you. I suppose that is part of what I was trying to figure out here: is a "decent sized grape vine" of any value?

From what I see from real grape growers, they prune vines back to NUBS, and arrange their vines for maximum growing capacity.

While I really like the idea of an arbor, I would want it elsewhere in the garden, not where the vines are now.

Clearly, I'm talking myself out of keeping the grape vines!
Thank you for your feedback, that really does help.
-Dan

Placement: they are right in the middle of what would make a nice flower garden.

and

I have zero desire to garden fruit & veggies

==<<>>>> then kill them ... be done with them

if and when you want to dabble.; by some named varieties that will thrive in your situation ...

wild grape are a horror .... there is absolutely nothing to save ... and you will probably never get any type of crop off them ....

BTW ... fruit production requires full blaring sun ... another reason your only crop will be green leaves ... which if you happen to be a greek chef.. are a crop in themselves ... but otherwise.. i doubt you will ever get a good eating grape off them ...

ken

dblank, We bought a house 6 years ago, and there was an old thick grape vine growing up in the trees, which it had killed. The vine was as thick as a tree. We had to have pros come and remove the tree it had killed, the vine literally taps right into the tree and sucks all the water and nutrient out of it. The tree it killed was about 50 ft tall, but they got it down. They said they had never seen a grape vine that thick. They cut it down and liquid ran out of it, it was gross. I sprayed with a Brush killer, realizing that they have roots that run under the ground, so they can spread that way too.

The neighbor across from us grows grapes. He has been growing them for over 30 years.

It had to have been one of his, and they still pop up all over once in a while, I am checking the trees to make sure they don't attack them.

If I were you, buy your grapes and poison that thing. Look up on Google online and see what grapes can do to trees when left unchecked.

Remember, birds will spread grape vine all over, including other places in your yard too.

Tree guys are expensive. Trust me.

'-the vine literally taps right into the tree and sucks all the water and nutrient out of it.'

Sorry, butterfly, but that just isn't true. Grape vines are not parasitic and have no mechanism for 'tapping into' their host. They can smother it by excluding light, compete for nutrients in the ground or increase wind resistance and cause windthrow - but they can't suck the life out of it. Very few plants can - mistletoe being one.

The same is often said about ivy but that isn't true either.