[harry]

sometime i want to move an established grape vine the stem is about as thick as my arm and about 4 feet tall, when and how is the best time to move it,,,, its going onto different ground how should i prepare the hole

[HesterF]

No expert but since nobody else has replied:

- Winter, bare root
- Don't give it too much compost or manure

But I suspect you'll not have much luck - that's an old vine if the stem is that thick. We've just moved back from Switzerland where we had our own vine on the balcony and lived next to a working vinyard. The vines they removed from the vinyard at the end of their productive life (many decades old) were about the size and width you describe. They crop them back severely every year so height is no indication of age and certainly our vine which was ten years old was not the width of an adult's arm. They fruit well on poor soil which is why I suggest not to overfeed it but it'll probably still need some encouragement to get some roots down if it's to survive.

Good luck!

Hester

[Bramblecot]

Ditto previous post.  Also, if you dig around it now to sever some (but not all) of the roots it will give it a chance to recover a bit and put out some new small roots before you actually move it.  Lots of luck 

[deepinthewoods]

Ditto previous post.  Also, if you dig around it now to sever some (but not all) of the roots it will give it a chance to recover a bit and put out some new small roots before you actually move it.  Lots of luck 

thats a really good tip, you could do it gradually in stages.

[darkbrowneggs]

Might be worth taking some cutting and possibly layer some bits down then if things are not successful you will at least have some younger plants started.  -  Not that I am anything of a "grape expert"  though I do my best to practice on the bottled stuff 

[harry]

thanks will have a go