Matt Robson: Resourceful regenerative viticulture at Harrow & Hope Vineyard

Matt alternates perennial “ley” rows with annual “spray” rows across the vineyard; the logic being that if machinery is going to compact a row every year, it’s better to limit that damage to only half the vineyard. 

The perennial rows have been built up over several years, now carrying around 12 species (chicory, plantain, sainfoin, wild carrot, yarrow, red and white clover, and more), with a goal of reaching 20. They chose these species to provide good forage for grazing and green manures to improve soil health in these rows. 

Matt manages the perennials by leaving them to grow tall to maximise deep rooting before being crimped, so the stand lays down but keeps growing and setting seed. Matt encourages this as it nurtures the seed bank in the soil and in turn saves him the cost of buying seed (Matt estimates that he saved £1500 this year!). Every couple of years, Matt adds in extra seeds when he crimps the rows down. 

In the annual rows, Matt likes to plant species that are high in nectar for biosecurity; these plants act as a sacrificial crop for the insects that would usually feed on vine sap (see organic pest management section below). These high-nectar species include sunflowers, borage, phacelia and more. 

Matt’s annual rows are considered the “heavy-traffic” rows, which he uses to spray the vines, spread compost, and subsoil (once a year). These rows remain for about 5-6 years, and once the cover crops in the perennial rows have “had enough”, the compost-loaded annual rows are ready to be rotated over and seeded into a perennial ley.

After trialling a small Italian crawler tractor (built for steep vineyard slopes) on Harrow & Hope’s flat but wet ground, Matt found it caused almost no compaction; even fully laden with a sprayer, it is very light on the soil (1.8 tonnes, 1.2 tonnes without the sprayer). The vineyard is now transitioning toward smaller, lighter tractors, on narrower rows, specifically to keep any compaction as far from the vine roots as possible. 

Here is the link for those who want to know more about the Geier crawler tractor.

Matt makes his own compost on-site, tailoring the mix block by block depending on each area’s needs. He sources most of the bulk material (straw cattle bedding) from a farm six miles away, and adds in vine prunings from on-site. He also uses wood chip, sourced from local tree surgeon businesses; any wood type is fine, Matt stresses that “if it’s woodchip, it’s organic matter” and he’ll have it.

1. Start with a high-carbon base.
Vines naturally grow on a woodland edge, so creating a woody, leaf-litter-heavy base is a great start to any vineyard compost mix; here Matt combines his straw bedding and vine prunings.

2. Inoculate with a “starter”. 
Matt keeps a perpetual, biologically active wood chip pile – used the same way you’d use a sourdough starter – adding a small portion, around 15 tonnes into a 150-tonne pile, to kick-start microbial activity.

3. Heat to sterilise, then re-inoculate.
Piles turned routinely and kept between 60–70°C to kill any disease spores carried in on pruning waste and grape marc, then re-inoculated with the starter mix once cooled. Matt also keeps an eye on it, and adds in green waste or animal manure if it needs more nitrogen. The full cycle takes around two years.

4. Apply little and often.
Matt spreads 10–15 tonnes per hectare with a compost spreader annually, depending on the area of the vineyard. This may not seem like much, but Matt’s strategy is to drip-feed nutrients to avoid shocking or overwhelming the vines, rows, or cover crops. The compost is spread over the whole vine row, rather than just around the vine, and only in the annual rows (the heavy-traffic rows).

In Matt’s first year, botrytis pressure was severe. The team trialled an old-school method of disease management by physically removing vines and material from the worst-affected area, as if they “were treating gangrene”. 

The next year was a very wet year and “botrytis central”, according to Matt. The vineyard still had some diseased areas, but not as much, with the cleanest area of the vineyard being the area that had been culled the previous year. 

At first, prunings were baled and removed. This was labour-intensive and much of the material ended up being burned. Then they began to chip the prunings with a local tree surgery contractor and take them over to Matt’s home farm down the road to use for cattle bedding. The wood chips then soak up manure and urine before eventually cycling back to the vineyard as compost two years later. 

Now, the team haven’t sprayed for botrytis in three years, and overwintering disease pressure (including powdery mildew) has dropped noticeably. Matt makes it clear that it costs more in labour, but the trade-off against crop loss from disease has been worth it.

When a sooty-mould-linked scale insect was spotted on the vineyard, instead of using insecticide, Matt opted to use sacrificial sap-heavy cover crops in their annual rows to draw sap-feeding insect pests away from the vines and into the rows. 

Regular monitoring since the first sighting has shown scale insect numbers dropping, which Matt puts down to a natural predator population building in response.

Matt has also been planting more trees and shrubs on-site to prevent a Spotted Wing Drosophila (SWD) problem; specifically, Matt has been planting pyracantha and bird cherry as ‘dead’ host plants for SWD eggs. This works because the berries contain a chemical/hormone that prevents the hatching of the eggs, so the populations remain low.

Matt’s approach to planting trees and hedgerows is guided by making sure that everything works within the existing trellising and machinery. 

In a wet, low vigour area of the site, Matt has planted hazel and willow (both can be used for coppicing and are trainable in the trellis), fig (chosen for its sprawling root system to help dry out waterlogged ground), and fruit trees (beneficial deep root systems and for vineyard worker’s snacks). He often replaces dead vines with trees, as long ad they’re easy to maintain among the vines. 

Matt’s long-term vision is to have a hedge every 40 metres down the vineyard, based on mycorrhizal root connectivity between trees (roughly 20 metres of horizontal reach each) and pollinator flight range. Hedge maintenance isn’t extra labour, as Matt maintains them at the same time he manages the vines.

Whether you’re trialling a new cover crop mix or transitioning rows to no-till, understanding what’s working requires good observational records.

Sectormentor makes it straightforward to log vineyard observations, track soil health progress, and build a long-term picture of how your land is responding to regenerative practices. Over time, that data becomes one of your most valuable assets, helping you make better decisions according to your vineyard context.