Grape vine supported between fence posts

Planted a Seedless Grape Vine against the back fence and wanted to provide horizontal support for it. Decided to use existing Galvanised Steel Posts to run wire over a span of 9 metres.

Materials

Marine Grade Stainless Steel Wire

Wire Rope Grips

Wire Rope Thimble

Turnbuckle

Jacks Grip and Grow Trellis

Jack Mesh Panel Fix Clips

Zip Ties

Round Rings

Tools

Adjustable Wrench

Steps

Step 1

Fed the Round Rings onto the Panel Fix Clips.

Removed the nuts on the bolts that support the fence to the posts and attached the Jacks Mesh Panel Fix Clips at either end then secured the nuts back on to the bolts. Fed the Wire Rope Thimble through the ring at one end.

Hooked the Turnbuckle through the ring at the other end and connected a rope thimble to the turnbuckle.

Attached Mesh Panel Clips to the middle Posts as added support for the wire.

Fed the wire rope through the clips and around both thimbles.

Secured both ends with Wire Rope Grips using an adjustable wrench to tighten with a small amount of slack in the Wire Rope.

Secured the surplus Wire Rope with Zip Ties along itself to make it neat and tidy.

Rotate the Turnbuckle to tighten the slack.

All that is left is to train the Vine along the wire, gently tighten the turnbuckle if the vine weight causes wire to drop and prune as necessary then just wait a few seasons for the grapes to grow.

I painted the fence first using Walpamur Charcoal Fence Paint as I find the green vine leaves or any green leaved plant really pop in front of the Charcoal coloured fence. Also in Winter the Grape Vine loses its leaves and the painted fence looks nicer than boring aged hardwood palings.

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Tools and Materials

Gardening

Planting and Growing

Fencing and Screening

Comments

Jason

Looks great @Bankzee, well done.

I'm sure this project will be popular with other Bunnings Workshop community members as fence screening solutions are always in demand.

Thanks for sharing.

Jason

Dave-1

Good Afternoon @Bankzee

Nice way to use some not used so much space! I did have two grape vines ... did is the word 🙂 They died as I forgot to water them (they were in pots)

I was going to go to the expense of posts and mesh but like the way you have done it.

Will keep that in mind for my next "try" 🙂

How fast do the vines grow in general? Its something I have always wondered about?

Dave

Bankzee

https://www.workshop.bunnings.com.au/discussion/comment/32716#Comment_32716

Hi Dave,

Thanks for the compliment. The grape vine seen in the picture is 2 years old but I have noticed that since I have started training it along the horizontal wires it has started to speed up its growth, not sure whether this is caused by the horizontal support or the abundance of rain and sun we have had recently. The fence is on my western boundary so the vine faces east so gets in excess of 6 hours of sunlight. Grape vines do need a bit of water and their root system needs some space to spread out so Pots are not ideal unless you intend to keep the water up to it and give it a regular haircut.

The photo I have attached below is an ornamental grape vine and trellis project I did on the western facing brick wall of my house. I designed it as a solution to keep the sun off the brick which has reduced the heat inside the house tremendously. The bricks are no longer a heat sink and most importantly when I need the heat in winter, the vine loses its leaves so a win on both counts, not to mention how good it looks. This vine is 4 years old and grows at a very rapid rate, it provided shade over the whole wall in 2 years. It is so rapid that the vine grows about a foot a day in ideal conditions. This is a single plant that is planted beneath the window on the left. I now find myself training it to the front of the house and will continue to do so as long as it keeps wanting to grow.

I can do this as a Workshop Project post if there is interest.

Ornamental Grape shading the West Wall

Dave-1

https://www.workshop.bunnings.com.au/discussion/comment/78735#Comment_78735

@Bankzee

Now that is a brilliant idea with keeping the heat off the bricks! I have deciduious trees in my front yard, liquid ambers (I top to keep them in line), crepe myrtles and a fig tree. In summer the yard is shaded by all the green foilage and in winter "boom" they all drop their leaves 🙂

Dave

Bankzee

https://www.workshop.bunnings.com.au/discussion/comment/103590#Comment_103590

Dave,I was quite chuffed with the Ornamental Grape and Trellis, it was so simple once I got past the fear of drilling into my house bricks. The brick temp has reduced by about 10 degrees in Summer which makes such a difference to the internal temp on that side of the house late in a summer evening.

The liquid ambers must put on such a show in Autumn for you, I thought about such trees in my front yard however as it is rather small and sitting higher than road level with an old sandstone retaining wall I decided to avoid any medium to large trees whose root system may not appreciate the work and cost involved in replacing said retaining wall.

As for the fig, I have one of those just up from the Grape that the original post showed. What I did with it was get the two main branches, each measuring about 2 metres, and trained them to grow along the base of the fence to the left and right of the centre trunk. This now ensures a wider coverage of the fig tree and instead of a single tall Fig, I have all these vertical branches coming up from the two laterals which increases fruiting area and also provides a nice green foreground in front of the paling fence. As seen in the below pic.

But despite all this, I would give them all up for a beautiful Liquid Amber and Crepe Myrtle in my front yard.

Have added a photo below that shows another benefit of the Ornamental Grape, it frames my dining window when looking out into the backyard. Such a treat especially when the small birds hop through the vine looking for caterpillars.

Dining Window Framed

Banksy

marcequin

https://www.workshop.bunnings.com.au/discussion/comment/78735#Comment_78735

Hi @Bankzee I am very interested in this project as having a north facing wall that gets extremely hot in summer. Have been looking for solutions and came across Ornamental grape vine as an option. Would you be able to let me know how to train it horizontally on a brick wall, please? E.g. how often or how far to attach a horizontal wire from another to have the wall completely covered. How many plants to use and where is the best place to locate them, middle? on the sides? It looks fantastic in this photo.I love the ground too! Thank you

Bankzee

https://www.workshop.bunnings.com.au/discussion/comment/105237#Comment_105237

Hi @marcequin . the ornamental grape vine over my west facing brick wall works so well. As it is the colder months here in Canberra, the leaves have changed colour and almost finished falling off the vine, leaving the brick exposed to catch the winter sun. The resulting leaf litter on the ground makes a great mulch for the garden.

For the wall installation I drilled 7mm holes in the brick using a masonry drill bit. Inside this i placed 7x35 Ramset wall plugs. I then screwed Mesh Accessory Panel clips into the wall plugs and placed panels of Jacks Grip and Grow along the brick wall. This pic shows a close up of the panel clip holding the trellis. I used 6 of these clips per trellis but this is likely more than necessary.

Screenshot 2024-05-25 at 8.34.10 AM.png

How to train it horizontally - The vine on the wall did its own thing, I just helped guide it in the direction it wanted to go. But you can guide the vine any where you want along the trellis

How many plants to use - The following pics are one plant show before and after with another pic showing how it looks in winter.

It is planted beneath the window on the left. I am now guiding it around to the front of the house as I like the look.

Screenshot 2024-05-25 at 8.38.49 AM.png Screenshot 2024-05-25 at 8.39.37 AM.png

I am more than happy to answer any questions you may have. One thing I will say is you will need to trim it from the gutters during the growing season so it doesn't fill them up. As you can see in the above pic, I keep it away from the roof.

kind regards,

Bankzee.

MitchellMc

https://www.workshop.bunnings.com.au/discussion/comment/119755#Comment_119755

Welcome to the Bunnings Workshop community @marcequin. It's great to hear about your project. I trust that @Bankzee's reply has answered your questions.

Please keep us updated, and feel free to start a discussion if you need further assistance. We'll be keen to see your results.

Mitchell

marcequin

https://www.workshop.bunnings.com.au/discussion/comment/119755#Comment_119755

This is great @Bankzee. Thank you so much. I just came back from Canberra and loved the weather and autum look. My project is in WA on a solid north facing brick wall which gets really hot during summer. I might try this to decrease the temperature. Have a great weekend ☺️

JackOATMN

This is a great idea,

I live in the Moreton Bay area of Queensland, and I am taking a shot at growing some grapes, I have a spot picked out with full sun, but I have a metal colour bond fence, wil the heat from that affect the grapes?

JacobZ

https://www.workshop.bunnings.com.au/discussion/comment/47549#Comment_47549

Hi @JackOATMN,

A warm welcome to the Bunnings Workshop community and thank you for your questions.

You can certainly have some heat reflection from a metal fence so this should be taken into consideration when growing your grapes.

If possible, position them 30-50cm away from the fence so there is room for reflected heat to dissipate more easily.

Consider adding a shade structure or heat shield to help keep your grapes cool in the hot summer months. You could make something basic out of shade cloth and timber stakes.

Consistent watering will also be key. Consider adding an irrigation system so watering is simple to keep up with. Check out How To Plan An Irrigation System and How To Install An Irrigation System for some guidance.

Allow me to tag experienced gardeners @Noelle and @mich1972 to see if they have any tips they can add.

Let me know if you have any further questions.

Jacob

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