Grape Arbor

I decided this spring to plant some grape vines in my back yard.  It may be too hot here in Georgia for good grapes, but hopefully with time I will get something that is nice to look at if not tasty to eat. 


If you want to have a grape vine, then you need to have something that will support it.  Enter the grape arbor project.  After doing some basic research online, I constructed a grape arbor using mostly materials found around the house. 


To construct my arbor, you need:

- at least two sturdy support poles (wood, metal, plastic should all work);
- galvanized wire (enough to span the distance between the support poles); and
- nails, or some other fasteners for the wire.

Instructions after the jump.




Support Poles.  The previous owners of this house let the back yard grow pretty wild, so I found myself taking down a number of trees in the first year.  The trees I harvested are mostly tulip poplar and sweet-gum.  The poplars are pretty soft and don't make great supports, but the sweet-gum work fine.  I cut three poles to match the contours of the back porch where my grape vines are planted, and removed the bark using a draw knife.  Removing the bark is optional I think, but you at least need a saw to cut a pointed end to the support poles to get them in the ground.  I made the pointed end using a chain saw.

The metal trellis is left over from the previous owners.  

 The poles need to be planted firmly in the ground in order to support the weight of the grape vine as it grows.  Thankfully, my yard is pretty much all Georgia clay, which becomes very hard and compact.  I dug the holes about a food into the ground using a pick and shovel and back filled them with clay.  I also used hammer and the flat side of an ax to nail the poles into the soil.




Wire and Fasteners.  Next, I took the galvanized wire and strung it between the poles.  Mine is pretty light duty, but still strong enough to hold 100lbs or so.  I wrapped the wire around the poles, checked them for level and height, and nailed them to the poles using u-shaped fasteners.  

Grapes.  Finally, I planted my grape-vines, which I found on sale at Lowes.  They seem to be pretty happy about a week later, but it will be a while before we see any grapes.