A vineyard is a plantation of grape-bearing vines, grown mainly for winemaking, but also raisins, table grapes and non-alcoholic grape juice. The science, practice and study of vineyard production is known as a vineyard is a plantation of grape-bearing vines, grown mainly for winemaking, but also raisins, table grapes and non-alcoholic grape juice. The science, practice and study of vineyard production is known as viticulture.

The earliest evidence of wine production dates from between 6000 and 5000 BC. Wine making technology improved considerably with the ancient Greeks but it wasn't until the end of the Roman Empire that cultivation techniques as we know them were common throughout Europe. Vineyard posts, or vineyard poles as they are known locally are wooden poles used in the growing of grapes used in the production of wine, are part of the R&B Group product mix. Vineyard posts are generally treated with Creosote, as it is the most cost effective and robust wood treatment commercially available in South Africa currently.

Service life

Wooden poles have a service life of 40-80 years, depending on climate conditions and the pole's individual properties. The service life of a steel pole is 35-50 and it's heavily affected by corrosion which is triggered by:

• Acid or saline soil or climate

• Scraping, denting, fire

• Sand, snow or dirt blown by the wind

Similarly, the service life of concrete poles depends heavily on climate erosion and the quality of the concrete.

R&B Timber Group only treat vineyard posts to the H5 specification and comply strictly to the HardPole process.