"Nick Maclaren" wrote in message
...

In article , "David W.E. Roberts"
writes:
| AFAIK you can pinch back unwanted shoots at any time - you just
shouldn't
| prune the established wood after late January because then the wood
bleeds
| when the sap starts to rise. This weakens the plant's growth in spring.
| However, this is for best cropping of grapes - if you are growing an
| architectural variety I guess you could prune at any time once vigorous
| growth has started.

Yes, but I shall need to cut back shoots. Not drastically, but
somewhat. Hence my question of when the sap run STOPS.

Incidentally, late January is an average - it could be a lot
different in different years and parts of the country.


Regards,
Nick Maclaren.
Nick,
we may be at cross purposes.

You originally posted "and it will assuredly produce a lot of shoots that
will go in directions I don't want. I can see the buds opening ...." so I
assumed you wanted to control new growth from current buds, not to remove
previous years growth.

Just to be clear, again AFAIK, anything growing this year from a bud (green
wood) can be zapped whilst small without harming the plant, and the earlier
you zap it (rubbing out buds, pinching out shoots) the less effort the plant
puts into it.
Anything that grew in a previous year (brown wood) will bleed and is best
pruned over winter, preferably after a few hard frosts.

AFAIK the sap run STOPS around December. :-)

According to my venerable Gillian Pearkes "Growing Grapes in Britain" (I
paraphrase a little) January and very early February are the ONLY times
mature ripe wood and canes can be pruned safely.
She also warns against waiting too long to nip out laterals, as again there
can be significant bleeding if the shoot is well grown.

Having said all that, this advice is aimed at getting the best vigour and
cropping out of grape vines.

If you are growing and pruning for architectural purposes then you will not
kill the plant whenever you prune - you will get bleeding and will weaken
the plant a bit and it will not be ideal but nevertheless 'coarse gardening'
still works in the main.

Cheers
Dave R