Hello, I live in Vancouver, with a huge south-facing patio-balcony, with a quite substantial built-in garden box in the balcony wall. There is currently a section with some Ivy on a lattice, and I love the way it forms a thick privacy screen. But ivy is rather boring, and so I was hoping to replace this ivy with a fresh lattice full of tasty grapes! Since these were the species recommended for the lower mainland in another thread, I was planning on going with: Red seedless - Vanessa, Candice, or Einset Green seedless - Interlaken, Himrod, or Lakemont Blue/Black seedless - Coronation, Simone, Glenora, or Jupiter I know nothing about any of these, but plan to do my research before purchase. My main desire is a sweet, seedless, hardy eating grape that is delicious fresh, and makes nice raisins. I don't make wine. My questions: 1. Can I plant three varieties (one each of green, red, and black) in the garden box and allow them to climb the lattice together, intertwining as they grow? I have visions of red, green, and black spreading across the lattice just waiting to be picked. :) 2. Assuming they're planted properly, can I expect them to grow and fruit pretty fast? 3. By training the vines back onto the lattice as they attempt to spread, can I accomplish a pretty substantial privacy screen in short order? Thanks in advance!
how big is the garden box. You need to have enough space in between the vine ideally 6-feet between the plants,. Depending on the age of the vines you can expect a small crop after 3 years and a full crop within 5 years,. Himrod makes great raisins, but I've used Canadice as well. All the grapes you've mentioned are all different. My favorite is Einset but it requires a lot of cultural practices to get nice fruit. If you want easy to grow vines try Vanessa, Coronation and Himrod. Good luck. Cheers
Thank you for the suggestions on types, it really helps narrow it down. Definitely I want easy. I am curious though, they really require so much space? I kind of thought they could grow together, intertwine... No? Why not? Also, are most grapes pretty notorious for attracting wasps?
yes they need the space don't forget the relationship between root and plant if you restrict root space you restrict plant growth how big is the box? i also like interlaken himrod easiest to grow , good luck tobias
Pick one variety to grow if you don't have the space. Tobias is right in that grapes need space to grow. Wasps like thin skinned early ripening grapes. They can go after both Himrod and Interlaken some years.
Good that you are getting rid of the ivy and it can quickly turn into a monster!! You will need to make sure that you get rid of every bit of it as it is very tenacious. Don't dump it where it can root, ie compost heap or over the back fence. I love my grapes but fight a constant battle with ivy. Good luck with the grapes. Margaret
