How to Care for Hardy Kiwi the First Year

Plant hardy kiwi vines in spring. Wait until the last frost date has passed and the ground is workable. Plant this versatile vine in full sun, part shade or full shade. Space it one to two feet from the base of a trellis or arbor.

Dig out the hole. Make it one-third as wide as the nursery pot and the same depth.

Remove the hardy kiwi plant from the nursery pot and rough up the outside of the root ball with your hands. Prune any roots that wrap around the root ball and anything that looks broken or rotten.

Handling the root ball rather than the stem, place the hardy kiwi into the hole and hold it up right in the center. Adjust the level of the soil in the bottom of the hole until the base of the stalk is level with the soil line.

Backfill the area around the root ball with the same soil you removed from the hole. Smooth out the area with your hands or a small rake. Water in the hardy kiwi until the soil is damp down as deep as the base of the root ball.

Keep the soil damp around hardy kiwi for the first year with one inch of water per week. Start watering in spring right after planting and continue through fall.

Prune off any dead sections of vine and clean up broken areas right after planting. Use a pair of sharp pruning shears to make clean, even cuts.

Apply a four- to six-inch layer of mulch in a one- to two-foot diameter circle around the base of the hardy kiwi. Use organic mulch material such as wood chips, straw, sawdust, compost or leaf mold. Keep the mulch layer six inches away from the stalk.

Water well in late fall before the first hard frost. First-year hardy kiwi plants are more susceptible to frost damage than established plants. Well watered plants resist frost-damage more effectively than dried out plants.