Must-Know Tips for Winterizing a Fig Tree

Fig trees may be more common in places where the winters don’t affect them as much, but that doesn’t mean you can’t enjoy having one even if you live somewhere with freezing winters. What it does mean is that you’ll need to take a few extra precautions to make sure your fig tree stays safe throughout the winter. Here we’ll give you some must-know tips for winterizing a fig tree so that you can keep it safe throughout the colder months and enjoy it once again in the spring.

Choose a Hardy Fig Tree

Before we can even start to talk about how to winterize a fig tree, we need to mention the kind of fig trees you should consider if you plan on buying one. Not all fig trees can handle harsh winters, so you should consider buying a hardier variety of fig tree if you live in a place where it gets extremely cold. Celestial, Brown Turkey, Ventura, and Chicago figs are all good varieties to look at if you plan to plant them somewhere with colder winter weather.

Cover and Heat

The kind of winter you have can affect how you protect your fig tree. For example, if your winters are sporadically cold, you don’t need to go all out to protect it. A good tip for this kind of weather is to heavily mulch the roots with organic matter and put a tent over the tree. You can then use a heat source such as a space heater in the tent that will only kick on when the outside temperature gets too low.

Tie and Bundle Up

For winters that get cold and stay that way, you need to take more extreme measures to protect your fig tree. First, start by pruning dead branches and any branches that are too tall or long. Then, use twine to wrap the branches together around a central point of the tree (you can also use a sturdy pole driven into the ground near the tree’s base). Bundle your wrapped-up tree in old blankets or burlap cloth that you secure with more twine. (Never use anything plastic to cover up your fig tree.) The next step is to build a wire or mesh cage around the tree.

Cover the Top

The last thing you want to do when you wrap up your fig tree is to make sure you leave the top open, but not completely. Leave the wrappings open at the top of the tree, but cover the top of the cage with an upside-down plastic bucket. This allows moisture to escape the blankets but also protects the tree from snow or rain getting inside your bundle.

Now that you know how to winterize your fig tree, you might be on the lookout for potted fig trees for sale. Plant Me Green has a variety of choices that will look great and produce a lot of fruit.