Will a Grape Vine Leaf Out in the Spring?

Identification

• Grapes are a fruiting vine, made famous both for their sweet fruit and the fact that they are used to make wine. In the home garden they are typically trellised along a fence or the side of a house or other structure. Grapes are deciduous, which means that they leaf out in the springtime and lose their leaves every autumn. A grapevine that fails to leaf out in the spring is dead.

Growth Cycle

• Grape buds form on the vine during the year, and open when spring comes the year following their development. The first sign that buds are opening is called bud swell, when buds emerge from dormancy and begin to grow larger. The bud turns pink or light green and you can see leaf tissue within it. Grape buds first break open -- called “bud burst” -- in early spring, usually in mid-February in warmer climates. The buds then open, and flowers form in spring, followed by fruit that matures in early fall. Grapevines then lose their leaves in mid-fall.

Grape Leaves

• Grape leaves are contained within the buds that form on grapevines the previous year. Also contained within the buds is the material for shoots and flowers. Leaves usually cluster in groups of three to six per shoot, and grow at right angles to the stem. By the time they are fully leafed out, they have about five lobes, and are palmate and green in color. They generally present good fall color.

Culture

• In warmer areas, you can leave the grapevine attached to its fence or trellis year round. In colder areas, where vines might suffer damage from freezing temperatures, you can take the vine down and bury it beneath 6 to 8 inches of mulch or soil. Keep the vine a manageable shape by pruning in the fall, but make sure to leave at least a bud or two on the end of each shoot, since that is where leaves and fruit will develop the following spring. Water young plants to make sure they never dry out completely, but older plants should be able to survive on rainfall. You may mulch the plant to keep out weeds and conserve soil moisture.