The Best Time to Transplant Grapevines

Old, Established Vines

• Transplanting grapevines is sometimes impossible. Iowa State University Extension says when the vines are well-established with widespread root systems, the best way and time to move them is to do it piecemeal. Once the vine goes dormant for the season, cut a few pencil-thick shoots of new growth from the old vine. The hardwood shoots should be about a foot long with the bottom cut just below the last bud and the top cut at least 1 to 2 inches above the top bud. If the ground isn't frozen yet in the new location, plant them, root end down, and water them well to help the cutting get over the shock. The top bud should be above ground when you plant the cuttings. In case the ground is frozen, wrap the cuttings in damp peat moss and plastic and store in a refrigerator. Then put them in the ground in spring and don't let the area dry out. Move rooted cuttings during the dormant period over the winter, but not during spring when the plant's growth spurt begins.

Layered Plants

• Use layering to ensure that a propagated new vine has the characteristics of the parent plant. According to horticulturalists at the University of Wisconsin, layering involves bending a green one-year-old shoot near the base of the mature vine into a shallow trench, about 4 or 5 inches deep. Cover two buds of the shoot with soil and leave two buds at the top of the shoot exposed. Cut the tip of the shoot and allow the layered plant to root. In the spring, dig the newly rooted shoot and immediately transplant.

Potted Cuttings

• When cuttings have successfully rooted in pots, move them in spring or fall. In a relatively mild, temperate growing zone, remove vines from their pots and plant directly in the ground when their leaves drop and they go dormant in the fall. In a hardiness zone where fall weather changes are so abrupt that the ground freezes before the plant goes dormant, North Dakota State University Extension advises planting the entire pot in the ground. The potted vine then overwinters, covered to protect it from any prolonged freezes. Dig up the pot, remove the vine and transplant in the spring, just before the plant begins its seasonal growth.