How to Trim Concord Grape Bushes

Concord grapes are big, dark, tasty grapes with seeds. They helped Thomas Bramwell Welch launch an industry centered on the sweet, nutritious juice of this variety of grape in the 1860s. Concord grapes are easy to grow at home and they make healthful, handy snacks for children's lunch boxes. Like other types of grapes, Concords perform at peak efficiency when you trim them once a year at the end of their fruiting season.

Pruning shears or clippers

Instructions

- 1
  Trim your new Concord grape vine before you plant it. Cut off all small canes, also called branches, leaving only the largest and strongest cane. When you trim the smaller canes, cut cleanly back to the main stem without cutting into the stem. Also, leave at least two buds, or nodes, on the large cane you choose to keep.
- 2
  Trim off about 12 inches from the top of your Concord grape after it grows to about 5 feet tall. This practice forces lateral canes to develop, which will produce more grapes.
- 3
  Cut all but the four most vigorous canes back to the main stem during the first winter after you plant your Concord grape. On the canes you leave, cut the tips, leaving at least two buds on each cane.
- 4
  Trim your Concord grape again in fall or winter in succeeding years, after the plant has lost its leaves. Choose two strong canes at the top of the plant and two others that grow lower. Cut all other canes back to the plant’s trunk. Leave eight to 15 buds on the canes you choose to retain.
- 5
  Trim your Concord grape at any time of year to keep it confined to the space where you want it to occupy.

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