How to Construct a Muscadine Arbor

Construct an arbor for muscadine grapevines to lift them off the ground and expose them to maximum sunlight and good air circulation. Trained properly, the vigorously growing vines grow along the sides and top of the wooden and wire structure. The natural canopy provides shade and enhances the appeal of the landscape with clusters of pale bronze to deep purple fruit. A simple muscadine arbor can be built with wood posts and wires.

Tape measure
Powdered chalk
Wooden boards
Post hole digger
Tamper
Gravel
Concrete
Wheelbarrow
Trowel
Four 4-by-4-inch wood posts, 9 feet long
Carpenter's level
Two 2-by-4-inch wood posts, 9 feet long
Screwdriver
Galvanized eye hooks
10-gauge galvanized wire
Wire ties
Three 2-by-4-inch wood boards, 7 feet long
6-inch galvanized nails
Hammer

Instructions

- 1
  Locate a well-draining spot with at least six hours of direct sunlight exposure. Measure and mark a 5-by-18-foot rectangle over the area with powdered chalk. Spread wooden boards on the ground when marking the outline to keep the lines straight.
- 2
  Using a post hole digger to dig a 24- or 36-inch-deep hole over each corner of the rectangular outline. Tamp the base of each hole to level the soil. Spread 2 inches of gravel over the base of each hole to assist in drainage.
- 3
  Add water to quick-dry concrete according to the instructions on the packet, and mix it well with a trowel. Pour 2 inches of the concrete over the gravel in one hole and stand a post upright over it. Ensure the post is plumb using a carpenter's level, and make adjustments as required before the concrete cures.
- 4
  Pour concrete into the hole around the post until it's 3 inches from the top. Continue installing the remaining three posts in the ground the same way. Leave the concrete to cure overnight, and add dirt into the remaining holes until flush with the surrounding soil.
- 5
  Mark the exact halfway spot between two posts along each long side. Because the posts are spaced 18 feet apart, the halfway marks fall at 9 feet. Dig a 24- to 36-inch-deep hole over each halfway mark using a post hole digger. Stand the two 9-foot support posts into the new holes you formed, and set them in place with concrete.
- 6
  Mark two spots on each post spaced 24 and 60 inches above the ground. Screw an eye hook into each mark on the posts.
- 7
  Secure a length of 10-gauge wire through the eye hook of one post using wire ties. Extend the wire through the parallel eye hooks in the remaining arbor posts so it forms a straight line. Repeat the process of securing another length of wire into the second eye hook on each post.
- 8
  Nail three boards across the tops of parallel posts along the arbor, allowing 10 inches to overhang on each side. Hammer two 6-inch nails through the top of each board that penetrates the post and holds the arbor together.

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