Fig Tree (Συκιά)
"Common Fig"
source
To grow and maintain fig trees in harsher climates, that will continue to have fruit each season, they need to be winterized. When it's still small you can keep it in a pot and bring it indoors during the colder months. The best time to winterize is typically sometime in mid fall after all the leaves have fallen off the tree. If it starts getting cold early, before the leaves fall off, you can just cover them earlier.
Most fig trees after about two-three years, at approximately 4’ (1.3m) tall, will begin to produce fruit. It won’t be much but enough that it becomes noticeable. Also it's probably a good time to plant them in the ground, if you haven't done so already. Now that the tree will be outdoors in the colder months as well, it needs to be wrapped and covered (winterized,) in order to prevent it from dying over the winter.
Winterizing will help prevent the tree from freezing, which will reduce or eliminate its chances of bearing fruit again the next season If it freezes it will most likely die, or go barren for the next season or so. I've seen this happen to a tree that was about 15' (4.6m) tall and wide, because we didn't cover it one year. Causing it to have to be cut back to almost half its size... sad.
There are probably different and perhaps even better ways to cover a fig tree. But the way I’m going to describe is how my father taught me and has been doing for over 30 years. It’s also how my grandfather did as well. In Greece fig trees wouldn't really need to get covered, due to the milder climate. So this method is just to describe what works in hardiness zone 7 based on actual experience.
Medium Sized Trees, "Winterized"
Potted trees, covered using the same method and kept outdoors.
Materials
(quantity will vary depending on tree size)
- Rope or twine (of your choice)
- Mineral wool insulation - roll
- Asphalt roofing - roll
- Plastic garbage bags - construction grade (or similar waterproof tarp)
- Ground leaves (dead leaves that have fallen off trees)
(average tree size: [medium] 10’ (3m) tall and wide)
Step 1 - tying the tree
Starting from the bottom up, use the rope to gather the trunks and branches towards the center. Tying at several locations along the height of the tree works well, as opposed to wrapping up in a spiral. If you make a loop in one end of the rope, wrap it around the area you want to gather then slip the other end through the loop, you can use the rope like a lasso to gather that area tighter together.
Step 2 - insulating
Take the roll of insulation, again starting from the bottom up and begin to wrap it around the base of the tree. As you wrap slightly move the roll up to spiral around the tree so that the insulation overlaps itself. Tie the insulation at the midpoint of each horizontal 'row' to help prevent it from slipping. Continue this until you've covered the whole height of the tree.
Step 3 - protective cover
Now with the roofing paper, using the same methods described in step 3 wrap the insulated tree. Here it's important to overlap the previous layer/row by about 6-10 inches (15-25cm) so that any moisture on the surface will drip over and down the paper and not enter the covering. As described in step 3 make sure that you tie the rows to keep them tight and prevent slipping.
Step 4 - waterproofing
Take the garbage bag and cut the closed end so that both ends are open. Put the bag over the top of the tree and "thread" the tree through the bag, pulling it down to the base. Tie the bag in place. Continue until you've reached the top. Again making sure the new bag layers overlap, with the one on top always over or on the outside of the one below. Finally, take one bag that isn't cut and put the open end over the top of the tree like a sock. Pull it down as far as it goes and tie it to ensure it doesn't get blown off by the wind.
Step 5 - base insulation and fertilizer
Take the ground leaves and spread them around the base of the tree about 12 inches high, sloping down and outward away from the trunk. This will help insulated the base of the tree as snow and water tend to accumulate there. It will slowly decompose and fertilize the soil. If the leaves decompose or get blown away it's good to have a spare pile somewhere so that you can replenish as necessary.
