How to Prune a Scuppernong Grove

Plant Scuppenong vines beneath a trellis that resembles a two-strand wire fence. Remove all except the single largest, healthiest vine from the grape plant.

Insert a bamboo stake into the ground and tie the vine to this stake to help it grow upward. Remove all side shoots that attempt to grow from the plant until the primary vine reaches the top of the trellis. This primary vine will become the 'trunk' of the scuppernong plant.

Pinch off the tip of the vine and allow the Scuppernong to produce four side shoots along each wire of the trellis in each direction. There should be a total of 16 shoots.

Examine the four side shoots on each wire, and remove the two weakest vines along each wire.

Select the strongest side shoot along each wire and cut it back so that it is only five buds long. These buds will produce Scuppernong grape-bearing vines. Tie this vine to the wire.

Cut the second vine on each trellis wire down to two buds. This is called a renewal spur. At the end of each year, you will cut the primary grape-bearing side shoot back. The renewal spur will produce two new vines. The stronger of these two vines will be the new grape-bearing vine, while the lesser of the two will be the new renewal spur.