Growers using the single walled sheeting type commonly used in warmer climates have found that with our occasional snow fall these are prone to collapse so aren’t an option.
The essential ingredient to the polypropylene variants is the ultraviolet light blockers that allow the shelter to last for multiple seasons, a minimum of three seasons being essential for UK viticulture. There are various materials used in guard production, most commonly carton paperboard, (MonarchZipset) craft paper and single (Samex) or double walled polypropylene (Tubex, Groguard). They’ve been around since the 1980’s and are now standard operating for most growers in the UK. Vine shelters were an adaption of tree guards first promoted by Graham Tuley following an experiment wrapping polythene around a solid mesh guard. Needless to say all the manufacturers claim that their product’s USP offer the best benefits. In addition, the shelter promotes a micro climate effect which helps to reduce evapotranspiration and reduces vineyard labour for vine training by accelerated trunk growth. Providing shelter around young vines offers a multitude of benefits, they protect against browsing mammals, enable the use of herbicide or mechanical weed control and limit weather damage and desiccating winds. In all probability, when you planted your vineyard you used some type of shelter to give your young vines a good start in life, and as with all things viticultural there are all manner of shapes and sizes of vine guard.
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