The ancient Italian tradition of the ‘married grapevine’
If you take a look at the drawing on the mud-splattered sign and then look down at the greenery you can probably already make out the concept behind the fancy name for this ancient traditional practice. As a vine, Vitis vinifera naturally reaches for trees to spread through the canopy and enjoy the sun, so the Etruscan civilization (~800bc-~400bc) adopted this way of cultivation in two styles, now known as: ‘alberata’, with a grapevine growing on a single tree, and ‘plantata’, where the grapevines are planted along trees arranged in a row and develop along ropes tied between the trees. In the photos above, which I took in a country park next to my hometown near Milan, the vines were actually planted in the space between the trees.
And although the focus seems to be on the grapevines and their valuable products, we shouldn’t forget the trees. Grapevines generally prefer to climb on plants with a deep root system capable of drawing nutrients upwards towards shallower layers, a thin crown with medium-small leaves and the ability to withstand severe pruning. For these reason the field maple, Acer campestris, has been used since antiquity to play the role of the living pole. The field elm, Ulmus minor, was often chosen instead, as the leaves could be used for forage for courtyard animals. Poplars, Populus, and willows, Salix, where chosen because they could be pollarded, producing canes, and in northern Italy white mulberry, Morus alba, was the first choice until the practice started declining. This is the species you see in the photos above and not only it produces a copious amount of small fruits, but it was historically economically important for every household as its leaves are the preferred food of the silkworm, the larva of the domesticated silk moth, Bombyx mori, and silk production has played a major role in the area.
Taking advantage of the vertical layer has always been part of traditional horticulture, as it simply mimics nature, but it became impractical with the mechanisation of many practices, to the point it is now just a relic. However, good habits and traditions are hard to die, and several vineyards are still managed this way in central Italy.
...finding connections to build self-sustaining systems
Sources and more photos:
Naples Botanic Gardens, Italian and English
A. Brunori, Ecomuseo Colli del Tezio, Italian