Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
a
b
Figure 4.88
The vine has been trained to the wall without pruning (a). It is likely to be devoid of foliage at the base in a
few season's time. A pruned vine with the stems trained as horizontally as possible and well-spaced is likely to retain
foliage over its entire surface (b).
Thread the vines through the support. Once
it has extended over the surface required, the
climber can be clipped as a hedge. The same
rules for the shape of hedges apply (see page
85, 'Hedges').
Always keep the hedge wider at the
base than the top.
be trained this way to form a mini tree or
standard supported by a strong stake (see
Figure 4.89).
After planting, select the strongest, most
upright stem and train it to its support. At the
end of the dormant season prune out all side
growths but leave the growth at the top to
continue growing until it has reached the
desired height.
Pruningatplanting
Fan training
If you need your climber to cover a support
from top to bottom, prune back the long
stems to buds facing in the direction you want
growth to go. The subsequent side growths
will provide a base for dense foliage cover at
the foot of the plant. Space the stems evenly
over the surface, bending the stems at the
extreme right and left of the plant as much to
the horizontal as possible (see Figure 4.88).
Once the required length of the trunk has
been attained it is time to induce branching.
Prune back the top branches to stimulate side
growth that will become the major scaffold
branches of your plant. If you are training a
plant to a two-dimensional trellis (e.g.
grapes), select two branches, if you want to
train the plant over a flat surface like the top
of a pergola select up to four stems depending
on the horizontal space available to cover.
When training a climber flat, space the
branches evenly as if fan training.
Climbersononetrunk
Some climbers are grown to form a trunk
before the leafy canopy is allowed to develop.
Grape vines are the obvious example, but
wisteria and other flowering climbers can also
Only once the trunk and scaffold branches
are in place can pruning begin for flowers
