view from the valley: Four good reasons to prune your vines

As we have seen, a Gardner who cares about his vines is committed to caring for them well. Pruning is an essential step for growing vines that bear fruit. Regular pruning keeps your vines healthy, productive, attractive, and under control.

Don't be afraid that you will hurt your vine by pruning it. You are not doing it any favors by letting it grow unchecked. An unpruned vine will become less and less productive and attractive over time. The right kind of pruning will only help your vine and ensure that it consistently produces abundant fruit.

"Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything" (James 1:2-4).

A Gardner who prunes well will do the following:

1. Remove dead, damaged, diseased, or unproductive stems. Removing the diseased or unfruitful stems will keep the other stems healthy and encourage new growth.

"We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed. We always carry around in our body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be revealed in our body" (2 Corinthians 4:8-10).

"For I know the plans I have for you," declares the Lord, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you a hope and a future" (Jeremiah 29:11).

2. Remove overly tangled stems. If you do not care for the growth of your stems, they can become a tangled mess that will then become an unmanageable mass. Reducing a vine's mass will encourage new growth but also allow light and air to reach the plant's interior.

"If we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin" (1 John 1:7).

"In God I trust and am not afraid . . . For you have delivered me from death and my feet from stumbling, that I may walk before God in the light of life" (Psalm 56:11, 13).

3. Remove errant stems that grow away from the support. Vines must make their way up in the world by clinging to or twining around a support. Some stems have minds of their own and appear determined to grow away from the support you have provided for it. These vines must be trained by pruning.

"The Lord was my support . . . He delivered me because he delighted in me" (Psalm 18:18-19).

"Endure hardship as discipline; God is treating you as his children. For what children are not disciplined by their father? God disciplines us for our good, in order that we may share in his holiness. No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it" (Hebrews 12:7, 10-11).

4. Direct its growth. Vines must also be guided to grow upward. Cut a bud or stem that is pointing in the direction you want the vine to go.

"I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go; I will counsel you with my loving eye on you" (Psalm 32:8).

"Blessed is the one who perseveres under trial because, having stood the test, that person will receive the crown of life that the Lord has promised to those who love him" (James 1:12).

Far from harming your plant, the right kind of pruning will help your vine to thrive and yield more fruit every year.

"Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all" (2 Corinthians 4:17).