How to Prune a Fig Tree in Winter For Big Harvests! (You are Doing it Wrong!!), by Havenly Garden on YouTube. 10 min 53 s.
- Video length
- 10 min 53 s
- Time to do it
- 30 minutes
- Difficulty
- Easy
- Steps
- 9
What you need
Steps
Wait until the tree is fully dormant, after the leaves have dropped and a few frosts have passed. Late winter, before the buds swell, is ideal.
Wipe the blades of your pruners, loppers and saw with rubbing alcohol before you start so you do not carry disease into the cuts.
Step back and study the whole tree. Pick out the tall vertical shoots and the flatter horizontal branches that carry most of the fruit.
Remove the dead, damaged and rubbing branches first. Cut back to healthy wood or to the raised collar where the branch meets its parent.
Cut out most of the strong vertical shoots growing straight up from the trunk and main limbs. They shade the tree and fruit poorly.
Thin out crowded growth so light and air reach the middle of the tree. Leave roughly a hand's width between the branches you keep.
Shorten the longest horizontal branches by about a quarter to a third so the crop stays within easy reach.
Angle each cut just above a bud or a side branch, sloping slightly away from it, so water runs off and the wound seals.
Rake up all the prunings and bin any diseased wood instead of adding it to the compost heap.
Tips and common mistakes
Never remove more than about a quarter of the canopy in one winter, or the tree will push weak regrowth.
Keep the tallest growth within arm's reach, around 2 metres, so picking stays easy next summer.
Skip pruning on days when the wood is frozen solid, because brittle branches shatter instead of cutting cleanly.
Wear gloves and eye protection, and keep the saw blade pointing away from your other hand.
Questions
When should I prune a fig tree?
In late winter while the tree is dormant, after the worst frosts but before new buds start swelling. Avoid autumn cuts, which leave soft growth exposed to cold.
Will winter pruning cost me this year's figs?
The main crop grows on new wood, so winter pruning encourages it. The earlier breba crop comes on last year's wood, so in cold climates leave some of that in place.
My fig dies back every winter. Should I still prune it?
Wait until spring, then cut back to live green wood. Remove the dead tips only once you can see where growth has restarted.
This guide was drafted from the video's details and general task knowledge. It has not been checked against the full video. Check the video and relevant product instructions before following a procedure. Report a correction.
