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Pruning grapes should be completed by early April, according to horticulturists with Iowa State University Extension and Outreach. A grapevine may have 200 to 300 buds capable of producing fruit before pruning, but if the vine isn’t pruned the number or grape clusters would be excessive and the vine wouldn’t be able to ripen the large crop. Pruning helps obtain maximum yields of high quality grapes while allowing for adequate vegetative growth.

To prune grapevines a hand shears, lopping shears and saw are needed. The most common system used by home gardeners is the four-cane system, where canes of the grapevine grow on two wires, one at three feet above ground and the other about six feet high. According to the horticulturists, when pruning is finished, no more than 60 buds should remain on the grapevine.