Aaacckkk. I was hoping everybody would agree on one method being superior. :) Derek, if you could take a picture that would be really helpful. Your directions were concise and specific, thank you so much. With that trellis stretching 35' how many grapes could I fit in it? I'm hoping I don't need two trellises, I plan to use the space beside it for berry bushes. Peachymomo, thank you for the link. Lots of good info there. My problem is when they try to describe various methods I get confused trying to decide which method is best. I just want The One True Way, lol. My plan is to only plant disease resistant varieties. It rains a lot here so I won't need to worry about rinsing the grapes. My neighbors don't have problems with mildew (in spite of the rain) so I think this must be a good area for grapes. I honestly don't care how it looks, I'm more interested in function.

I'm new to this forum, and I do want to thank Myardor, fruitnut, harleysilo, and others here for the info, pics, and suggestions. One reason I come to forums like this instead of trying Google first is that Google usually gives me tons of extraneous information and links to sites that aren't all that relevant and/or are mainly commercial advertising sites. Usually, if I can ask a question of someone who's knowledgeable in a field, it's a lot more efficient than just searching through the library's card catalogue or wading through all the stuff that Google yields. However, if I ask a question in a forum, I don't expect people to go out and do my library or google research FOR me if they don't already have the info. :) I just see forums as places for people to share info and opinions and experiences they already have - or to direct each other to good info sources. Speaking of "pruning," :O back in May I had a guy doing some yard work for me and he was totally incapable of following instructions or directions. Long story short, after we had carefully moved all the long offshoots from my 22-year-old purple Concord grapevine onto the trellis I wanted to train them to, he proceeded to take a chain saw to the 5-inch diameter main trunk of the vine, right near the ground! (No, I didn't kill him, but I wanted to!) The stump hemorrhaged sap for at least 2 to 3 weeks. I tried grafting some shoots from another (Champagne) grape onto the stump, but I don't think that "took" because it was too late in the season. Anway, new growth has been sprouting from the old stump ever since late June, and the leaves look very healthy. Does anyone how long I'm likely to have to wait for a decent crop of grapes from this severely "pruned" old grapevine?

Patricia...I think alot of us don't realize the true size of a "Mature" Clematis vine in the beginning..they can easily grow 4-6 feet wide and anywhere from 6-10+ feet tall when mature ..that is in their leap year...Remember that clematis are the "Sleep","Creep" and Then "Leap" vine so you can assume three years at least to completely cover a trellis of that size...if you want to companion two(And that's pushing it) ..and if so all I would recommend is to just MAKE SURE they are of the same pruning group....so pruning won't be a nightmare...I would recommend pruning group 3 since they are very vigorous and less suseptible to wilt and they would be pruned down the same!!..When it comes to Clematis you have to be patient but armed with knowledge on fertilizing and pruning you can grow them very successfully but must realize they won't be as tall or wide as you would want for a time...hope this helps...Jeanne

Watch this video....there are also many more sites you can explore to help you and your grape vine..... Here is a link that might be useful: Training first year grape vines