By Diane Lockspeiser

Those who read the Andes Gazette on a regular basis may recognize the twisted trunk of the Concord Grapevine that I call “the Monster.” It’s the one that two friends helped me to cut back drastically this past early Spring, leaving just the twisted base and a few bare lines of branches spread across the pergola. This that you see here is almost all new growth.

   On first glance, the grapevine looks just as it did before being trimmed. That leads to the idea of “why bother?” Closer inspection, however, shows the new growth to be much healthier. With improved airflow through the healthier greenery, the resulting few grapes that have grown are all round and firm, not shriveled by fungi as many have been in the previous years of overgrowth.

Grapes supposedly only develop on the previous year’s growth, by the way. We didn’t think we’d left any of last year’s growth, but evidently we did, at least a little bit.

The new branches that have grown will also need to be pruned in late Winter or early Spring, leaving just a few to allow for grapes to grow. Then, all going well, the fruits of our labor will truly show in abundance, literally!

In similar fashion, ironically, I am cutting back on the branches of activity in my own life. Hopefully, it will also allow for new growth and healthier, more abundant “fruits” as well!

I’d like to thank those of you who came to visit me, my garden, and the Monster during the Andes Public Library Annual Garden Tour. I hope you enjoyed our time together as much as I did.~