Hey Juliet! Nice to see someone fairly close by here in TN. There are others even closer to you here.
I used to do a great deal of work covering, insulating, wrapping, etc my figs, but in cold winters they always died back about the same as my unprotected figs. So no, I no longer do any winterizing of the figs I leave outside. I have Chicago Hardy, Brown Turkey, and Celeste outside. Most years they only die back a few inches from each tip, so most of the plants take off in the spring and only put on new tips and take off where they left off the previous year. However, in some years when we have some bitter cold nights (about once every 4 years in the last 8 years) they are killed all the way back to the ground. But never below ground, so worst case scenarios they just have to start from the ground up the following spring, and many still manage to produce a little bit of fruit the same year.
I do have a few less hardy figs that are in giant (55 gallon drums cut in half) pots that I have moved into my heated garage every fall and hauled back out every spring. THey do ok that way- at least no freeze damage- but even with those giant pots those figs never have gotten close to the size of my inground figs and don’t produce a fraction of the fruit, so this fall I decided my days of moving 27.5 gallon pots is over! I planted those more tender figs in the ground and am fully prepared to accept their death if it happens- and it likely will.
I say all that to say that if you stuck with hardy figs, most years you should be fine and on the rare one when you aren’t, you still won’t loose the whole fig plant and likely will get a little fruit even in years they grow back from the ground. Good luck!
