Roses all Planted!

Today we finally finished planting all the roses around the perimeter of the vineyard which is a great achievement but has made us realise the full scale of the challenge of manually planting all the vines in March!

Next weekend we will be planting some small fruit trees around parts of our boundary. These are on a dwarf root stock so that they do not get out of control and should look stunning when in blossom. They are various varieties of apple, pear and plum. We will post pictures next weekend.

Day 2 Planting Roses

We planted roses again today which was hard work but now getting into a good routine (although we did manage to plant one rose upside down with roots pointing upwards!).

We used an auger to dig the holes which worked really well until we hit stones which are great for drainage but not for digging holes…

We planted them with the soil mixed with organic manure soil improver and then added rabbit enclosures followed by giving them lots of water. We will remove the guards and prune them to stimulate growth once we have completed the perimeter fencing which should hopefully protect the vineyard from both rabbits and deer which are both abundant in Tidenham Chase.

Planting Roses

Today was an exciting one as we finally started to plant! The vines will arrive in early spring but today we started to plant our bare root climbing roses which will grow up and along the vineyard perimeter fencing.

Roses are planted in vineyards as “sentinel plants” — they act as early warning systems for pests and diseases while also adding beauty and biodiversity. Today, many vineyards do not plant roses and instead rely on synthetic treatments. However, we believe that they remain valuable for tradition, ecology, and aesthetics. We will use them as part of sustainable farming practices, blending heritage with modern viticulture.

Roses are highly susceptible to fungal diseases like powdery mildew and downy mildew. They also attract pests such as aphids before they reach the vines. If these are detected on the roses first, we will know that conditions are ripe for the same problems in grapevines and will be able to act quickly.

Roses also attract beneficial insects (ladybirds, bees, butterflies) that help control pests and pollinate, increasing biodiversity.

However, lets face it, the main reason for growing climbing roses around the total perimeter of the vineyard is that they will look beautiful!

We are planting two varieties of roses: Climbing Iceberg and Cecile Brunner. They are both hardy, disease-resistant, repeat-flowering, and thrive in the same well-drained soils that suit vines. Their vigorous growth and long flowering season make them excellent companions for vineyard aesthetics.

Climbing Iceberg has beautiful large clusters of pure white, semi-double blooms from June to October.

Cecile Brunner produces masses of small, pale pink, fragrant blooms from summer into autumn.

Ground Preparation

Hi. I have included a short video below showing the vineyard being ploughed and harrowed.

Welcome to our Blog

Thank you for your interest. This blog will depict the establishment of our vineyard “Wye Chase” which began in June 2025.

We have owned this land for about 20 years and used it to establish a small holding, including growing christmas trees, fruit trees, raising pigs, rearing hens in order both to sell eggs via a local egg round and to sell rare breed fertilised eggs, rearing turkeys and geese for Christmas.

The fields all face almost directly south with a slope of approximately 10 to 15 degrees. It is surrounded by trees which offers protection from the wind but they are not too close to block any light. Soil tests revealed that the soil was very slightly acidic, free draining (due to the limestone rock abundant in this area) and all the necessary nutrients were available in abundance. We are incredibly lucky as all of these characteristics are perfect for the establishment of a vineyard.

The photograph below shows what may look to be a “blank sheet” ready for work to commence but actually a lot of work had already been put in to get to this stage. This central field had been allowed to grow uncontrolled for about 10 years and was therefore completely covered by brambles. These were cleared and the land was then ploughed and power harrowed. We then planted slow growing fescue grass varieties with a good percentage of clover in order to naturally capture Nitrogen so that we do not need to add any synthetic fertilisers