Early Sydney resident, James Busby, had a view of a perfect life in which one was able to sit beneath one's own grapevine and enjoy its fruits at one's leisure. While this may not necessarily accord with everyone's view, the grapevines (genus Vitus) do offer many possibilities to the average gardener, particularly in the temperate regions.
The best known member of the genus is Vitis vinifera, the common grape. This species has thousands of varieties, mostly grown for fruit. The home vine's fruit will either be eaten fresh, or possibly fermented to make wine. Perhaps a word or two on varieties is appropriate here. For fresh consumption, large-berried seeded varieties are probably the best domestic choice. (The seedless varieties seen in your greengrocer require great skill in their growth and the large berries they have, require specialist producer skills.) A good choice is `Italia', a white muscat-flavoured grape which will ripen in late March/early April in a coolish climate like that of Melbourne. If you can find plants, an alternative is the Australian-bred black grape, 'Marroo'. This seedless variety has relatively large berries and is usually resistant to the main problem diseases of grapes - downy mildew and powdery mildew. One vine of a table grape variety should yield enough fruit to keep the average consumer supplied for a couple of weeks.
However, if your thoughts were of wine production, you may need a larger planting. You could expect to pick 2-4kg from a vine (which will make 1-2 litres of wine) - however, to get a decent ferment going, you probably need at least 50kg of fruit. So, unless you are prepared to turn over the entire yard to production, your dreams of self-sufficiency may not eventuate.
Most standard wine grape varieties are pretty adaptable in terms of location, but stay away from later ripeners like Shiraz or Cabernet Sauvignon in places with cooler summers (like coastal Victoria.)
The major bugbear with Vitus vinifera varieties is their susceptibility to leaf diseases, particularly in moist climates. This limits their usefulness in the tropics and many coastal areas unless you are prepared to spray regularly. There are some disease tolerant species however. From North America comes V. lubrusca which has quite handsome foliage. The fruit is good for jellies but has a strong “tropical” flavour which some people have problems with (but others enjoy.) A common old variety is 'Isabella' which was a popular backyard variety in NSW and Queensland and is occasionally seen in Melbourne.
Purely ornamental species include the Asian species Vitus coignetiae (Glory Vine) with its handsome foliage and good autumn colour, and the common ornamental grape vine with its red autumn colour. The ornamental grape is a hybrid between V. vinifera and an American species and is thought to have been bred in France late last century. Glory Vine prefers cool, moist climates, but the ornamental grape is much tougher and does well in a range of climates from hot and dry to cool and moist.
The grapevines, being deciduous, are ideal for providing summer shade and winter sun. With a bit of work, you can have fruit as well, but if you're looking just for the shade without the disease problems (or fighting the local birds for the fruit), try one of the ornamental species.
About the writer: Dr Peter May is Deputy Head of Campus at Burnley College. His special interests include soil science, turf management and viticulture.
POSTSCRIPT: Re: Maroo and powdery mildew. I have had a message from Bill Lewis of CSIRO Horticulture Division at Merbein regarding one of my comments about the CSIRO-bred tablegrape Maroo. Bill has put the case that in their experience, Maroo is sensitive to powdery mildew and needs treatment to prevent the disease. It has been our experience that in Melbourne Maroo doesn't get anything like the problems with powdery that say Chardonnay or Pinot noir can have (and our vineyard at Burnley has pretty high PM pressure) and my comments were largely based on that experience.I will keep an eye on things this spring and summer and see if we have been missing something. If anyone has experience of growing the grape in question and can add to the debate I would be very happy to hear from them.- Peter May
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