Photo by Nick.Allen

When your picture grape vines, you may envision them in rows and rows along rolling, hillside vineyards. I have to agree that these plantings are lovely. But, did you know that grapes tend to fit neatly into backyard gardens? much the way that espaliers do. Grapes can be easily trained against a wall or fence — just like espaliered fruit trees.

In fact, the bright-green leaves turn an ugly, cyclone fence into an attractive, fruit-producing living wall. Grapes have no problem making large containers their home. And if you underplant them with a ground-hugging annual or perennial, they make a handsome statement worthy of the front yard.

The simplest way to acquire them is to find year old, bare-root grapes at your local nursery or garden center. You can always purchase them online or through a catalog as bareroot plants. Later in the year, you may find the more expensive, leafed-out plants grown in containers, as well.

While you’re perusing the possibilities, you’ll notice that grapes fall into these three categories: European, American, and American Hybrids (crosses between American and European grapes). Let your garden center or master gardeners at the Cooperative Extension Office know what you’re looking for in a grape and they’ll steer you to the right category.

Photo by Joe Shlabotnik

Planting Grape Vines

If your region experiences mild winters, such as California, you’ll want to plant your grape vines during the winter. But, if you’re in a colder zone and have deep snow, you’ll want to wait to plant them until about three weeks before your frost date.

In the home garden, grapes are usually planted against a support such as a fence or arbor. Choose a place that has full sun and well-draining soil. Dig the holes 1-1 1/2′ away from the support structure and 8″-10″ apart from each other. If there’s any top growth on the plant, cut it back so that it has 2 or three buds.

You’ll want the plants leaning slightly towards the supports. So while you’re planting, position them at an angle to guide them. Usually, they’re planted just as deep as they were in their original containers. However, this may depend on your growing zone, so check with your local nursery because they’re often planted deeper. When you slide them out of their containers, gently tease (pull and straighten) the roots so that they’ll spread out inside their planting hole.

Photo by sjsharktank

Grapes don’t need extremely rich soil because they aren’t heavy feeders. A moderately fertile soil is just fine with them. Their leaves are prone to fungal disease, so do your best to water them at the soil line — drip irrigation is your best bet. The vines should be pruned every year every year because the fruit is produced on the new growth. Plus, it’ll help restrict the plant’s mature size, as well. Pruning the old wood to two or three buds will stimulate the necessary new growth.

As far as how many plants you’ll need to produce a crop, nearly all grape varieties are self-fruitful, so go ahead and plant a mini-vineyard or just one as a focal point. The best advice here is to simply be sure that it’s a variety that likes your area.

Mother Nature is awfully ingenious; she has come up with quite a few methods to keep bugs away and plants healthy and thriving.  It turns out that plants, like people, prefer certain company.  You can help keep your vegetables happy and pest-free by planting them near their buddies!

This simple method maximizes certain plants’ natural strengths and minimizes their weaknesses, giving you a beautiful garden and abundant crops!  Some of the combinations make sense, like tomatoes and basil; others might surprise you…

Photo by Stock Exchange

Plant Buddies

These plants grow well together, supporting each other and resulting in greater yields for you.  Consider the following pairings (and a few that dislike each other) when making your garden plans.

• Beans get along with most veggies, but not onions.
• Cabbage and broccoli love celery, beets, spinach and chard.  This is a good place for your onions, too.
• Carrots do well with peas, lettuce and tomatoes, but keep the dill at the other end of the garden.
• Cucumbers like to be near beans, peas and radishes, but far from potatoes.
• Tomatoes will thrive near carrots, cucumbers and onions.

Photo by Stock Exchange

Pest Control Plants

Some plants you may want in your garden, not to eat, but to keep away the bugs that would eat your produce before you get to it.  Many are flowering and add a decorative element to an otherwise utilitarian spot of yard.  Some beneficial plants even have edible flowers, such as nasturtiums and marigolds, that you can toss into your salads.

• Anise will disguise the scent of brassica plants (broccoli, cabbage, cauliflower, etc.) and keep away the aphids.  It does well near coriander (cilantro), but not dill.
• Basil improves the growth and flavor of tomatoes and repels flies and mosquitoes.  Lovely purple cones top the plants if you let them go to seed.
• Catnip will deter flea beetles, aphids, Japanese beetles, squash bugs, ants and weevils.  It makes a pretty, scented border.  However, if neighborhood cats fall among your list of pests, this may not be the thing!
• Chamomile is a tonic for anything in the garden, adding calcium, potassium and sodium to the soil.  If you let it go to seed it will reseed and return the following spring.
• Clover is good to plant around the base of grapevines and fruit trees as it attracts beneficial predatory bugs.
• Dill improves the health and growth of cabbage and will go great in a slaw or saurkraut come harvest time.
• Geranium protects corn, tomatoes, pepper and cabbage with its strong scent, by repelling bad bugs.
• Lemon balm deters many bugs in the garden as well as on you if you crush the leaves and rub them on your skin.
• We always plant plenty of marigolds (the scented kind) in the garden for color and to deter a variety of pests.  Be cautious if you have slug problems, though, as they are a favorite of the slimy, shelled critters.
• Nasturtiums deter aphids, pumpkin beetles and squash bugs as well as improving the health of radishes and the cabbage family.  My favorite thing about nasturtiums, however, is the peppery, colorful blossoms that you can use to fancy up a regular green salad.  Nasturtiums will thrive in practically any soil and do well in orchards where they help deter pests.
• Tuck a few sunflowers among your corn and you’ll be blessed with a great yield, plus some beautiful, bright blossoms towering over the crops.

Photo by Stock Exchange

How to Get Started

It may seem overwhelming at first; there are so many combinations and contraindications of what to plant where and with what.  But truthfully, it’s hard to mess up with companion planting.  Your beans will not shrivel up and die if they’re too close to the onions – they simply may do better near the corn.

The easiest place to start is with some beneficial herbs and flowers.  Group your veggies as closely to their likes and dislikes as you care to, then intersperse your plantings with strong smelling and flowering herbs.  These are where you get the most bang for your buck in terms of keeping pests out of the garden, as well as improving the overall look (and smell!) of your garden.  Culinary herbs and edible flowers will give you more benefits than just the pest control and make being in the garden an even more pleasant experience.

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