How to Prune the Backyard Grapevine

Prune new grapevines before you plant them. Cut off all but the most robust cane or branch. Cut spindly and unwanted branches back to the main stem of the grapevine. Keep two buds on any canes or branches that you retain. The result will look like a stick with two bumps.

Prune the cane again when it reaches 5 feet in length. Cut it about 12 inches from its tip. This practice will force the vine to send out more canes below the point where you cut it.

Choose four vigorous canes during the grapevine's first winter dormancy. Leave two buds on each cane, then cut all other canes back to the main stem. The buds on the remaining four canes will produce grapes the next summer.

Prune again during the fall or winter in the years after the vine has dropped its leaves and entered dormancy. Retain two canes at the vine's top and two other robust canes lower on the main stem, but cut all of them to a length that contains eight to 15 buds. Cut all remaining canes back to the main stem.

Prune last summer's productive canes back to the main stem during the subsequent dormant season. Retain four healthy canes that did not produce fruit the previous summer. Keep two canes at the vine's tip and two more lower on the trunk, cutting them back to include eight to15 buds. Prune off all other canes back to the main stem.