Early pruning, not by choice!

[SarinaP]

A while back, I told you about a work friend who has unidentified fig trees and a nosy neighbor who picks all the figs in exchange for watching his dog when he goes on vacation. Anyhoo, this same friend has asked me to help prune the trees because they are encroaching on his back stairs. I'll finally get a chance to see the trees for myself and maybe get some ripe fruit! The thing is, he doesn't eat figs, and doesn't care about them at all so I'm not sure I'll be able to convince him to tie them back after clearing away as little as I can.

Advice? This may well break my heart to have to cut off branches with unripe fruit on them, but this is the first time he's asked me to come out there.

[SarinaP]

And yes, I'll be keeping the cuttings to share with you guys!

[Fygmalion]

@SarinaP... do most in ground fig plants die back to the ground in your / his growing area? I guess when you see the plants you will be able to determine how much of previous years wood there is versus new growth and likely that determination can help guide you in your pruning efforts. if there is a lot of old wood then surgical and considered pruning would be the order of the day but if evidence suggests that the plants have all died back and regenerated new wood completely this year, then I guess that in consideration of the advanced stage of the growing season, you could be as liberal as needed or desired in pruning back to clear his stairs since in all likelihood the current years wood will also die back. Do what needs to be done, enjoy any figs that might be available and leave whatever growth that has figs on them that you feel stand a chance of ripening before your colder temps hit the area. Hopefully he has some interesting cultivars that you now have access to. Enjoy!

T

[SarinaP]

Most do die back if not covered unless really established. I imagine it's mostly new growth if he hasn't cut it back until now, but good point about keeping as much old wood as I can. I can't see him bothering with covering them, since he doesn't eat the fruit, but I'll keep everyone posted!

[lilfiggy]

my vote is to make him happy so you will be invited back. If you don't get any ripe figs but get cuttings you will still be ahead of the game and pleased your friend.

[don_sanders]

Hard to say without a picture but there will probably still be plenty of fruit on the tree.

I'd cut back whatever he wants to make him happy and keep in mind that it might grow several more feet before the year is over.

Might be able to set air layers next summer so you can trim and harvest the fruit at the same time

[COGardener]

Get a dump truck and cut them off at the ground and fill the truck.... laugh all the way back home!!!

Kidding!!

I agree with trimming them to make the owner happy, harvest some figs if the neighbor left any. Either way you'll have plenty of material to start a tree or two of your own. Don't worry about unripe figs!

[Gr8Figs]

You could practice cutting and grafting the limbs in a direction away from the stairs

[SarinaP]

Thanks everyone! I'm heading up there this afternoon. Will take pictures and let you know what we're dealing with!

[SarinaP]

I spent an hour at my friend's house, freeing his back stairs and teaching his son how to check for ripe figs... he didn't have any. 😭 I managed to find one that was close, see what you think. They have a ton that are ripening! Any thoughts on variety? These are in Maryland, never covered, and are flourishing.

[SarinaP]

This is the one I show broken open. My fingers look like Vienna sausages!

[COGardener]

Looks like a lot of work. To bad you did not get to try a fully ripe fig, how was the partially ripe one? Did you get it all cleared?

[SarinaP]

It was sweet, but dry. Tender skin, so it really wasn't that far off. I cut back about 6 branches from the stairs and a bunch of branch tips so they would get in and out. I then tied back that general area to bring it more toward the center. I showed them how to prep the leaves for tea too, they loved it
.

[COGardener]

Sounds like a great day, and some happy owners as well.