How to Grow Grapes Up a Wall

Start grapevines in late winter for dormant planting. Dormant-planted grapevines produce the best growth in spring and summer. Start with nursery seedlings for the quickest, healthiest growth.

Choose the right sites along your wall. Each grapevine requires full sunshine all day, quick drainage, good air movement and 8 to 10 feet of lateral space. Prepare sites 2 feet from the base of the wall to give the grapevines adequate room for root growth.

Prepare a 2-square-foot site for each grapevine. Dig the soil to a depth of 16 inches to loosen and aerate it for root growth; grapevines achieve their best foliage and fruit growth with deep, healthy root systems. Turn 8 inches of organic compost into the tilled soil for added nutrition and moisture, and to keep the soil consistently loose and crumbly.

Plant each grapevine in the center of its prepared soil, in holes as deep and twice as wide as the root systems. Spread the roots out in their holes and cover them slowly and completely with amended soil; grapevines do best with adequate soil-to-root contact, and fail with air pockets in their planting sites.

Water the grapevines with 1/3 gallon of water to settle the soil and establish the roots, and put them on 2 inches of water every week.

Fertilize the grapes the week after planting with granular 10-10-10 fertilizer. Mix the fertilizer into the soil in a circle around the trunk of each grapevine, 6 inches from the base of the trunk. Fertilizer granules burn grape plant matter if they come into contact. Water the grapevines after feeding to dissolve the granules.

Lay 2 inches of mulch over the amended soil section to maintain moisture and warmth for the grapevines and to eliminate weed growth.

Screw two to three eye hooks into the wall behind each grapevine for initial support and training. Tie the grapevines to these hooks as they grow to help them locate and anchor on the wall. Use loose, looping ties to avoid plant damage.