How to Make a Grape Vine Trellis

Grapevines are an ideal addition to your landscape for a harvest of fruit, or to create a variety of grapes to make wine. They usually grow best with more the one grapevine around, ideally on a vine trellis to produce the most productive plant. There are some key tips to keep in mind when building a simple, functional grapevine trellis. You need minimal materials, but some knowledge of basic construction, time and patience.

Find a good area on your landscape for planting grapevines. Remember what type of sun, soil and positioning you need for the variety of grapes you'll grow. Decide what size you want your 4- to 8-foot-tall wooden posts to be. Shorter ones are best for places with winter.

Insert the post into the soil around 2 feet, spacing each post 20 feet apart for multiple grapevines.

Angle the anchor post pointing away from the main post to help keep the heavy 12-gauge wire taut. Attach the heavy wire securely between the main post and the anchor as tight as you can. For a two- to three-post trellis, an anchor post at either end is fine. If you have longer trellises, you will need anchor posts at each stake.

Run the heavy wire about 3 inches up from the ground, along the entire length of the grapevine trellis. Run another length of the heavy wire about 1 foot up from the top of the wooden post. Tighten the wire taut.

Run sections of the lighter catch wire between the two heavy support wires. These are to help train the vines and make pruning easier.

Plant the grapevines right at the base of the wooden beams, running the main vine along the heavy wires.