How to protect grapes from winter cold: best tips

Grapes, which not only bear delicious fruit but also serve as a garden decoration, need care not only in summer. Since it is a very thermophilic crop, it does not tolerate harsh winters, so it needs shelter.

Svitroslyn shared how to protect your vine from the cold. Here are some materials and methods to help you with this.

Soil

The vine can be sheltered from the cold right in the ground. To do this, you need to dig grooves and put it in them, covering it with a layer of soil or sod on top. This cover is set up as soon as the frost begins. After 3-4 weeks, another layer of soil of similar thickness is added on top.

Snow

If there is a lot of snow in winter, you can also cover the grapes with it - it protects well from the cold, and in the process of melting it saturates the soil with moisture. The vine should be hidden in a snowdrift, but it should be at least 50 cm high. The shoots are laid not directly on the snow, but on boards and gratings and secured so that they do not move. Snow should be periodically thrown on such a cover.

Straw

A thick layer of straw can also keep grapes warm in winter. Wait for the first frost, lay the vine on boards and cover it with straw so that it is about 20 cm thick. After 2-3 weeks, you will need to add another 20 cm of straw on top. This covering material is lightweight and can be blown away by winter winds. To prevent this from happening, the straw is fixed with agrofibre, arcs or sprinkled with snow.

Slate

The remains of slate are also used to protect grapes. They cover the vine, which is laid out in protective soil grooves about 20 cm deep. The plant is wrapped in burlap, placed in these grooves, covered with slate and then with soil.

Agrofiber

If the winters are warm or the climate in your area is mild, covering with agrofibre may be enough. However, it will also be helpful in more severe conditions if you cover it with mulch on top. You can use the material to wrap the vine directly and then lay them on the ground, or put agrofibre on top of the vine sprinkled with straw, fallen leaves or other organic mulch.

Fallen leaves

To use this cover option for grapes, make sure you have only healthy leaves, without signs of disease or pests. Store them in bags until the frost comes, i.e. until you need them.

Coniferous spruce branches

Another type of organic mulch that keeps grapes warm in winter. At the same time, it can be laid on the vine in just one layer. For greater protection, spruce or pine spruce branches can be covered with a layer of agrofibre.

Roofing material

This covering material is only suitable for use in warm and snowy winters. It covers the grooves in which the burlap-wrapped vine is placed.

Sawdust

You should be careful when using sawdust to cover grapes because it absorbs moisture strongly, which can be fatal to the buds on the vine. That's why you need to start by covering it with heat-reflective film, then put a good layer of sawdust on top of the vine and cover it with additional material that will protect it from excess water - slate, boards, etc.

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