What better way to start the New Year than logging some hours in the vineyard?!
Our pruning season starts in late December with what we call Winter Pruning. We use a battery hedge trimmer to cut all the dormant canes just below the top wire and 12-18 inches above the cordon wire. We remove and shred all the canes as we go and build a compost pile along with the mulched leaves we collected at the onset of dormancy. Since we wrap the shoots on the top wire during the growing season it takes a little extra time to pull them off but we find the advantages are worth it for our vines (see the June 2018 post for more information on palissage).
