Grape vine for my band stand....

Hello all,

I'd love  to try and grow a sweet grape vine here, I dont have a photo of the other side but the soil is good, and plent of it! Any suggestions for a suitable variety of grape for the job? I invision it growing up one of the pillars and then underneath the clear roof between the roof supports.

The garden is sloped, with stream at bottom, but drainage is good. The band stand is a bit of a sun trap, and our garden is south facing.

Any more info you need?

I'm a novice, but my husband and I gutted, rebuilt and replanted our garden from scratch. Last year was my first full year enjoying plants and I learned a lot. I also killed a lot of things off.....but many plants survived and thrived! I'm a little over excited about the seed growing season starting again soon.

Hi Tilley, I have large vine 40-50ft long, but don't know the variety as it was here when I moved in.  The RHS have some tips for growing outdoor vines with a short list of cultivars here:

http://apps.rhs.org.uk/advicesearch/profile.aspx?pid=288

Hi Tilley - what a lovely idea   Can I suggest you look at this website http://www.readsnursery.co.uk/categories/Grape-Vines-and-Kiwi-Fruits/  and then email them for advice - they've been really helpful when I've had queries about varieties/stuations etc. 

Your garden is gorgeous! 

Good luck, Tilley, and do heed their advice about preparing the planting hole well as effort put in there now will pay huge dividends later.  Vines really, really need to develop a good root system for the first few years, so if any bunches of grapes form in the first couple of years (and certainly the first year), do cut them off, however tempting it is to leave them on!  With new vines, letting them fruit in their first year may exhaust the stored energy in the wood and it will then take much longer to establish (or may even die!)