Pruning Fig Trees

Pruning is very important maintenance for fig trees, but it must be done correctly and at the right time. Correct pruning will directly impact your fruit crop.

Cross section of healthy fig wood

Why to prune

Ficus carica fig trees produce their main crop of fruit on this year’s new growth. If your tree does not grow very much, then it also will not set as much fruit. Pruning changes the hormonal status of branches and spurs on a flush of new growth. More new growth means more figs for you to enjoy.

Thankfully, fig trees really like to be pruned. You will not have to worry about killing your tree. Even if you were to cut it all the way down to the ground, a healthy tree will simply regrow. So don’t be afraid. Your tree will thank you.

When to prune

The main pruning of “common type” of fig trees should be done when the tree is dormant. (San Pedro and other types require a different pruning strategy, but are rarely ever grown in this area.) This means the leaves have naturally fallen off and the sap flow is very slow. You should see this happen gradually during fall as the temperatures drop. By early winter, your trees should be asleep and ready for pruning. Here in the Chattanooga area, and most of the South, Thanksgiving is often a good time to do this work.

Materials needed

Plan ahead for your pruning event. Whether you have one fig in a pot or hundreds in the ground, it is wise to prepare in advance. You will need:

·        Bypass pruners (avoid anvil-type pruners)

·        Rubbing alcohol

·        Paper towels

·        Pruning sealer (More on that below)

You may also need:

·        Hand saw/pruning saw

·        Loppers

·        A stool or step ladder

·        Needle nose pruners

·        Long sleeves and gloves to protect your skin from sap

·        A pen and notepad

·        A basket, box, or wheelbarrow to carry away the trimmings

How To Prune

Once you have gathered your items and are ready to start. You will need to decide what pruning method best suits your goals. The first question to answer is, “What form do I want this fig to grow?” Generally, you can grow in a bush form with more than one trunk, or a tree form, with on single trunk. Most often container grown trees are grown in a tree form. Inground figs may be grown in either form. If you elect the bush form, make certain to limit it to 2 or 3 (but no more than 4) of the strongest and healthiest trunks. Remove all others and always remove suckers at the base during the growing season.

Once you have decided on a form, stop and take time to examine the tree before you begin cutting. Take time to really examine it closely from all sides. Is the bark healthy on all trunks and branches? Do you see any signs of sunscald or damage? Are there any dead branches? How is the overall shape and form? Is it growing uniformly, or is the grown out of balance in some direction? Which branches are your main scaffold branches? The answers to these questions will inform your cuts, so make mental notes. If you see something important like a major damage or sunscald, you may want to write that down in your notes.

Imagine what you want the tree to look like next year. The idea is to form an open vase that allows light to penetrate the center, with wide branches reaching out at a 45 ° angle and evenly spaced around the tree. Don’t be in a rush. You are sculpting this tree. The cuts you make now will shape it for years to come, but if you make a mistake, it will regrow. Fig trees are forgiving like that.

Now we are ready to begin the pruning. Before you start cutting, the first thing to do is put on your gloves, to protect your skin from the caustic latex sap. Then clean all of your blades with the rubbing alcohol. This is very important so don’t skip these steps! The sap will burn your skin, and diseases can be transferred into your tree from uncleaned blades. Always clean the blades with rubbing alcohol before cutting each tree.

Start by removing unwanted trunks as close to the soil as possible. Then remove any dead, diseased, or damaged wood all over the tree. [NOTE: When you cut, always cut just above the “collar” of a branch. Do not cut into the collar because it is much more difficult for the tree to heal. See diagram.]

Avoid cutting the branch Collar when pruning

Now step back a few feet and take another look at the tree. Where are your main scaffold branches located? You do not want to remove those, so you need to know where they are located. Ideally, you want about 3 or 4 scaffold branches that each point in a different direction, like a compass. As well as evenly spaced vertically (3-8” apart) on the main trunk The lowest of the four branches should be about 18” – 30” above the ground. If you haven’t yet done so in past years, you should make a heading cut to the main trunk about 1”- 1 ½” above the highest scaffold. Cut at an angle so water will run off. This might be a big cut that requires loppers or even your hand saw. Topping off your tree encourages it to spread wide to form an open vase shape, and to discourage it from growing taller and taller. Remember, you want to be able to reach the fruit next summer without a ladder.

Now remove any other unwanted branches from the trunk. Then work down each scaffold. Remove any “water sprout” branches that are growing vertically, or any that are growing straight down from the bottom side of the scaffold. Side branches growing horizontally are preferred. You want to keep those, but try to select ones to keep that are on opposite sides of the scaffold branch and are not too close to each other or to the main trunk. Ideally, you want your scaffold branches to be about 2-3’ long with 2-4 sub-scaffolds branching off to the side. It can take a few years to finally reach this form as you train the shape of your tree over time.

Once you have your scaffold and sub-scaffolds selected, your tree should now look more light and thin. Now stop again to examine the shape of these. You will need to cut them back as well, but be mindful of where you cut. Look at the tiny leaf buds on the wood. They are located at the top of each node. There will be a scar where the leaf was previously located. The leaf bud will be just above that, or at the apical tip of each branch. [See diagram below.]  Select one that is facing the direction you want the new growth to go. You will want to cut at an angle about 1-1½” above that bud. After you cut, that bud should become the strongest growth point next season on that branch, so choose wisely. The new growth next year will be your fruiting branches as that is where your fruit will form.

Nodes and leaf buds on a fig tree

After Pruning

After you have finished your pruning, make certain to seal each cut with pruning sealer, especially larger cuts. If you do not have pruning sealer, wood glue will do for smaller cuts. Large cuts really need to be sealed properly for the tree's protection and health. Finally, make certain to clean the sap off of all blades you have used. Do this now as it is much more difficult after the sap dries.

Now that you have finished pruning, this is a good time to make certain that your tree tag has not been misplaced. I recommend using some sort of metal tag to record the variety name of your tree. Paper and plastic nursery tags will biodegrade and be lost. Your family will likely forget which tree was planted. Now is the time to check your tags on all your fruit trees to see if they need to be replaced. Writable metal tags, at about $1/ea, are worth every penny to prevent the loss of that valuable information!

Your tree is now ready for new growth next year and that should mean setting lots of fig fruits. We hope this important annual maintenance will bring you many figs to enjoy!