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The Best of the Fig Discussions - Page 2

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If your tree is way too big and a huge mess or completely overgrown, you can chop it down to a stump of several feet tall. It will resprout heavily. Thin these branches in the following year, after fruiting, to take advantage of all the fruit you will no doubt get. KEEPING A FIG TREE SMALL - espallier See the above answer. Figs are great for the small garden in that they actually take up much less room than any other kind of fruit tree if pruned properly. Additionally, they like to be grown against walls, and don't mind the traditional 'dead, dry soil' area often found beside cement foundations. Growing them against walls utilizes space in the garden that would not normally be used. You can also espallier figs, which means not only are they growing against a wall or fence, they are trained in such a way so as to not grow more than, say, 30 cm (1 foot) from the wall. Pruning an espalliered fig is completely different than pruning a normal fig. Start by training the branches of a fig tree against a wall in a fan shape. Use cement mortar nails and rubber coated wire to keep the branches against the wall. When pruning, take the longest and most vigorous branches back to 1 to 2 nodes from where they attach to the main stem, in summer. This will result in a dwarfed plant. Espalliering also keeps the plant very compact, making is quite simple to overwinter by enclosing. FERTILIZING Figs don't require much in the way of fertilizer. Some people say, the less the better, but Figman64 recommends: a top-dressing of granular limestone. It makes the figs sweeter. HARDINESS AND OVERWINTERING Eileen_Odea asked: Jojo, I really want to grow figs, but i live in zone 5. Do you know of any really hardy figs, that might survive my COLD winters? Cottage_Garden replied: There are fig varieties in Philadelphia and parts of NJ producing figs -- in sheltered spots for sure and well loved plants too but I think for the most part they freeze back, regrow from the ground and produce only one crop in the fall rather than making two crops every year. Joelle, a gardener in Hell's Kitchen in New York City was contacted and gave the following information... Brown Turkey, Brunswick and Blue Celeste are the hardiest figs. Joelle grows Brown Turkey. Most of NYC is Zone 5, but Joelle swears her garden is zone 6. I beleive this as there are quite a few tall buildings around her 3-storey walk-up which helps to create a micro-climate.

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