When To Prune Fig Trees, there are special techniques that fig growers use to prune trees, but these guidelines are intended for amateur gardeners. It is not necessary to prune fig trees too often. They can be left alone to grow or be trained into large shrubs, medium-sized trees and various shapes.
Young fig trees can be pruned in the first years in such a way that they produce new fruit and wood, which leads to a higher yield in the following season. Figs that grow actively in each season have older branches than those that were produced in the previous season. In order to produce more fruit in future seasons, you need to produce more branches.
Pruning Fig Trees After Planting
You can decide to cut for the first time when you are in the first dormant season without having planted your trees. Wait until late winter to do this, as new growth will emerge in early spring. For the first cut, you can carefully cut your figs back with a pair of sharp scissors until they are about half the size.
This will help to stimulate root growth and help your figs establish themselves. The soil also stimulates the growth of new branches, making the tree bushy.
2nd Dormant Season
Next, in winter, select 6 strong branches of your fruit wood and the main branches, and cut back the rest. Begin pruning by removing all branches that do not grow from the branches and any dead or diseased wood. As mentioned above, leave the branches as they are, but make sure you let them stagger around the trunk. If suckers grow at the base of the tree, they can be removed by cutting them off at the base.
Another step in pruning a fig tree is to remove branches that grow too close to the trunk and do not bear good fruit. Remove secondary branches (shoots that grow off the main branch or grow at an angle of less than 45 degrees to the main branches). Secondary branches can be removed by cutting off 4-6 of the main branch at 1 / 3 to 1 / 4 of its length. This will help the tree when it is young and put more energy into the fruits that will be produced next year to produce larger, sweeter fruits.
Following Years
Severe pruning is often described as something that should be done in the first few years. Established figs that are pruned too much may be slightly less productive than those that are pruned heavily.
Nevertheless, you can make slight dilutions to remove weak, sick or dead limbs and stems. Radical pruning should be done to control the size, rejuvenate older trees and coat the entire tree.
Tip: When pruning a fig tree, remember that if you prune too early, you will not get any fruit this year or next. Take your time and do not cut too quickly. However, pruning too early can damage the tree.
Tree Forming & Espalier of a Fig Tree Forming
The development of a single or multi-trunk tree is a process that begins when the tree is young. If winter is mild enough, you can grow your figs into a tree.
Select 1 / 3 of the trunk you want to keep and remove the rest by cutting the rest as low as possible. Select to remove the growing lower branches so as not to damage the treetop. When your fig tree grows, remove the lower branches as needed to maintain the desired height and shape. In order to keep the tree in shape, it may be necessary in the following years to remove suckers that grow at the base and higher growing branches.
Espalier
But a simple stack of three horizontal planes emanating from the base of the fig trees is simple enough. Espalier is a technique for growing plants on flat, vertical surfaces such as house walls and other buildings. The advantage is an abundance of fruit in a small space. Figs in particular are good trellis because they have flexible branches and young figs produce very young fruits. You can have as many formal shapes as you can grow fig trees, but the trellis candlestick doubles as a U-shape and as a fan shape.
The espalier process is simple: Step 1
Install your trellis on a wall. Alternatively, you can attach coated wires to a wall to which branches are attached. You can build your own support structure, but newcomers will want to buy a strong trellis with a nice design and horizontal bars.
Step 2
Plant your figs in the middle of the trellis and let them grow vertically and horizontally as well as horizontally.
Step 3
When new branches emerge, gently bend them into a shape of your choice and loosely tie them with plastic tape to the bars of your trellis, which you can get from your local nursery or garden centre.
Step 4
You want some space between the branches that you keep, unless you want a fixed shape. Autumn leaves fall off and remove the weak, crowded branches and stems.
Step 5
During each dormant season, after that, continue to cut back the overgrown parts. The longer the rest period is over, the longer this process will continue.
