How to Build a Grape Trellis

The easiest and most economical trellis to construct and maintain for growing and training grapes has a single wire, 5 to 6 feet above the ground and is well anchored on each end.

Here's what you need to construct a single-wire grape trellis:

• 4×4 posts (treated, for ground contact)
• No. 9 wire
• Eyelet screws
• Turnbuckles (wire tensioners)
• Concrete (optional)
• Metal T-post

We built this single-wire style trellis with treated 4×4 posts spaced 15 feet apart. It may be a little over built, but better safe than sorry, right? You can have your posts a little closer together if that works for your space. I wouldn't make them any farther apart.

Step One: Mark out with flags or another item where you want your posts to be. This will help to guarantee your trellis is straight and goes in line with other landscape features that may be around.

Step Two: Put the posts 2 feet deep and anchor them with some cement (optional). The cement will obviously make the post placement more durable, but it is an optional step.

Step Three: Once posts are in the ground, on the top of each post, screw in eyelet hooks to run the No. 9 wire through. You could also simply cut a groove or staple the wire in place.

Step Four: Use an anchor on each end to keep the wire tight and support the vine. We used a 3 foot, metal T post hammered into the ground about 2 ½ feet, at a 45 degree angle, 4 feet away from the post.

Step Five: Attach turnbuckles (wire tensioners) to each end of the wire after threading it through the eyelets and hook them onto the anchors at each end.

Train your vine to grow along the wire, pruning as needed. For the full post with complete instructions on building a grape trellis, see the link at the end of this post.

Here's a handy guide on How to Plant, Grow, and Harvest Muscadine Grapes.