A friend planted an unknown (good tasting) fig on Smith Island, Md - probably zone 7B about 25 years ago. It’s now 20 feet tall, single trunk one foot in diameter, requires a ladder to pick any figs, totally out of control.
Goal: get fig production down to arm’s reach from the ground.
Question: What if she chain-saws the trunk at ground level in February then manages the root sprouts that would (I hope) emerge? Or would that likely kill it? I read it’s hard to kill a fig. Or is it better to leave some of the trunk, say saw it off at height of three feet or so?
She’s willing to forego fruit next year to get back under control.
Wow, I don’t know? It should come back from the roots. You could take cuttings and start new plants, and if it doesn’t come back you could plant one of the rooted cuttings. I would not mind cuttings from this beast myself! Either way you cut it, to the ground, or a few feet up, save cuttings for backup.
Thanks Drew. It’s probably a common fig as she bought it here in Easton, Md from Lowes or some place like that. Smith Island is a kind of Garden of Eden for figs, pomegranates. I’ve never visited but it’s a famous micro-climate.
That won’t kill it, but it would probably be better to prune over a couple years if that is possible. A major chop will push some major growth that will continue late into the season and the tree will be much less hardy than it is currently, and probably not much shorter.
Yeah they root easily and it should come back, she will have insurance with cuttings. Many ways to root are on Youtube.
In the future develop scaffolds much like peach or plum, and then cut all new branches off the permanent scaffolds each year. I guess I would cut back to 1 to 3 nodes any branches off the scaffold. That will keep it at that height, yet develop figs every year. Main crop figs grow on the same years wood. So you need to prune that wood off each year.
I also agree with Brent, it would be safe to just remove a little at a time. Maybe cut to maintain scaffolds on it now, just lower them a lot, and all new wood that forms will be cut back to 1-3 nodes each year.
When planting a new fig, Is it easier to limit its height by training to four or five main shoots from the ground vs one central trunk? The multiple trunks divide the trees energy so am guessing it results in less vigor in any individual trunk vs one central trunk?
For example, I do renewal pruning on my lilac bush by pruning oldest branches to the ground. This keeps it in bounds.
If the fig tree gets a haircut and you have the opportunity, you might consider offering cuttings to people here on Growing Fruit for rooting and starting new fig trees. I’m sure many would appreciate it.
That is an excellent question. Some figs want to be shrubs, and some want to be single trunk trees. I tend to train to single trunk and try to work with scaffolds, but some figs just keep suckering like crazy, and I grow those as shrubs. At least until more dominant branches form. Most videos on big figs are all single trunk trees.