To maximize vine leaf coverage, not the grapes: is pruning of the canes required?

[mifletz]

I wish to maximize summer foliage from these vine canes. I am not interested in grapes.

My question is: should I cut back the canes and if so how much and when?

Or leave them alone?

Do vine leaves sprout from last year's untouched canes, or is some pruning required?

[EWAllotment]

We have a grapevine that covers a seating area at the side of our house - I cut back all the pencil-thick shoots that grew that year (I prune in about Nov when all the leaves have fallen). I kept a couple of them this year to extend the framework of the vine, but usually chop everything back to a 'knuckle' on the main framework. Looking at your pics, you've got a very big main trunk which you could cut back to, and just train all the new growth when it starts in spring, OR keep some of the pencil-thick shoots, tie them to the shape you want, and new growth will start from them in spring and you can train that. Our vine grows about fifteen feet every year and has to be trimmed to keep it contained, so you could do either - depends how far you want it to run.

[starloc]

My vines just grow, they havent been touched for years, new shoots and leaves everywhere they are getting getting bigger and bigger, I never pruned them till some major surgery this autumn , never had any problem with growing leaves or grapes , but they are old vines