amaven
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Out of control grape vines

I bought a house with an existing grape vine last fall. I didn't know we could even grow grapes in North Dakota before then. It was nicely growing and crawling along our chainlink fence. This spring before it began to bud I attempted to move some stray branches into the fence so it wouldn't grow out, but didn't feel like it needed to be trimmed back. I was wrong. The vine has turned into a bush. I wonder if it's best if I just cut it back, or if tying it to my fence to help it grow along is better. I am not worried about the harvest this summer, we don't know how to make anything with the grapes and don't feel like we will have the time to learn this summer. But I do want to keep the vine healthy because I want to learn to do stuff with it in the future.
So I don't know exactly what is is, I'm told they are a type of wine grapes. Last year I only saw a few small bunches of round purple fruit on it. It hasn't taken over much space, perhaps because the previous owner kept it well trimmed. But it certainly looks healthy and has a ton of tiny berry bunches already this year.

JONA
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Could you try and put a picture on the board for us amaven.

CharlieBear
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If it wasn't pruned the growth is probably over whelming. You can tie it up to the fence or selectively prune some of it off (called summer pruning). Either way, if it hasn't been properly prune it is not likely to have much of a crop anyway. If this is a plant you want to train and raise grapes on in the future, then I would probably take the don't take too much off this year. Before very early spring next year, check out how to prune grape as extension sites like Oregon's, or check out some books on pruning grapes at you local library.

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sweetiepie
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Location: York, ND (Zone 3b)

Yes, you can grow grapes in North Dakota. There was a winery by Rugby until a couple years ago. I have Valiant grapes which are more for jam or jellies. I guess you could still try making jam with this and see how they taste. I pruned my pretty hard this spring and am glad because of the hard spring we had and it is fruiting and going like crazy. Next spring I would prune it hard, this year maybe mark the new growth with ziptie's or something so next spring you know which vines to keep for fruit. Keep us posted, I would love to see pictures too.



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