Can I grow a grape vine outside ?

Looking for any advice, I have a notion to try and grow a grape vine in my garden outside. I live in the central belt of Scotland directly between Glasgow and Edinburgh. Is this possable ?
If Yes, What varieties should I be looking at ? and any advice re cultivation ? The quality of grape is not a problem it is more for effect but I would like some fruit.

 

Hi Davie,

From a bit of googling, it seems that there are some grape vines that are hrady down to -40C!!! I know it can get a bit chilly up there, but I think they'd be alright!

Have a look at this link:

http://www.horticlick.com/sc/vitis3.html

Hope that helps,

Cheers,

Dave

 

Thanks Dave, Will give this site a look. It can get a bit cold but not 40 below, thank god. Any other advice tips welcome.

 

I have or had (she has just moved) a posh neighbour, she had the vine root outside, but the rest of it in her lean too - oh how she would hate that term for her very posh conservatory! Always got a good crop though.

 

DavieM:

I'll be taking some vine cuttings later in the year if you are interested.

The vine is a red grape and has lived in an unheated greenhouse for donkey years and I reckon it's pretty hardy. At the moment the old greenhouse has been demolished so it's open to the elements. It's a bit slow but holding its own. I don't know the variety but the grapes are quite sharp, like a wine grape, rather than a table grape.

I did a cutting last year (just in case anything went wrong with the old vine) and it has also came though the winter in the greenhouse with no problems and seems determined to flower in a few days although it is in a pot in a small porch just now.

I don't know about growing outside but it may do OK. Getting the fruit to ripen might be a problem as really our season isn't long enough. You might have better luck if you can train it along a sheltered south facing wall. They are deep rooting and go totally dormant in winter and can take a lot of punishment. Spring frost and Easterly winds would be the main worries as it starts to come back to life again.

 

When I was a kid in Hamilton, we had a vine like WAco describes - roots outside, and the rest of it in the greenhouse. I don't the variety, but it was a black grape. Some years we had great grapes, other years not - but it definitely worked - and that's definitely in your neck of the woods!