How to Prune Outdoor Vines

While vines are valued for their unpredictable growth habits, keeping them looking their best requires you to do some occasional pruning.
Not only does this help sunlight penetrate through their thick growth and promote proper airflow to reduce disease risk, it also lets you lessen the weight so the vine won’t damage the structure it grows on. Regular pruning also encourages new growth, leading to a more vigorous plant in the long run.
When you prune vines, you’ll have multiple goals in mind. These include the following:
  • Removing dead, damaged, and diseased stems
  • Removing errant stems (those growing away from the support structure)
  • Directing its growth over your support structure
  • Limiting its growth for easier containment
  • Encouraging flower or fruit production
  • Boosting sunlight and airflow to reduce pest and disease pressure
Pruning requirements are stricter for some vine species than others. Grape vines, for example, thrive when you remove 70% to 90% of the previous year’s growth every winter. This intensive pruning process encourages the vine to grow bigger grapes and creates a shape that makes harvesting easier. Others, like English ivy, only need pruning for aesthetic purposes when you think they’re getting out of control.
Guidelines for Pruning Vines
As with all garden plants, the specifics of the pruning process will vary based on what you’re growing and where it’s located. Vines in sunny spots may need more pruning than their shaded companions, and growing zones with long summers provide more months in the year for the plant to proliferate — meaning more trimming might be necessary.
Even so, these steps make sense for most vine pruning projects you’ll take on.
1. Plan Pruning Timing Carefully
The best time of year for pruning vines depends on their growing habits. Plants that bloom in the spring and early summer should be pruned at the end of their growing season in the fall, while fruiting vines should be pruned early in the spring before setting flowers. Still others should be pruned in mid-winter during the dormancy stage.
2. Use Clean, Sharp Tools
The cleaner the cut, the healthier your plant will be after pruning. Sterilize all equipment before pruning, and ideally between plants. Avoid twisting, yanking, or tearing the vines, as this creates more extensive wounds that are more susceptible to disease.
3. Remove Dead, Diseased, and Damaged Vines
Your first step is removing any growth that compromises the plant’s health. Make sure you dispose of infected material far away from other plants to prevent contamination. Ideally, you’ll want to throw it out rather than adding it to your compost pile.
4. Choose the Cutting Location Carefully
It’s not ideal to prune vines anywhere you want. Instead, cut shoots so that they become flush with the main stem without leaving a stub. You’ll also want to avoid making cuts that cause the vines to grow inwards or cross each other, as that makes the plant denser and reduces the amount of sunlight and airflow it’s exposed to. Likewise, you should remove or retrain any stems that are growing away from the support structure.
Note: Some vines have such vigorous growth habits that they can be cut to ground level yearly. Trimming them down in later winter will encourage healthy growth by spring.