Growing figs in Maryland can be a fruitful endeavor, but it does take a little bit of planning. Figs come from the Mediterranean, where wintertime temperatures rarely dip below freezing. That is not the case in the Mid-Atlantic region. In Baltimore county, average winter lows are in the mid 20’s and frequently dip into the teens. An established fig tree can survive freezing weather, but will die back to the ground if sustained temperatures are too cold. Often, frost-killed trees will grow back from the crown, but depending on the damage, it may not fruit for a year or two. If you want to ensure that you’ll have figs every summer it’s best to plan for the winter.
Before planting, or evening buying a tree, the most important step is knowing your area’s typical climate extremes, and matching the tree to the space you have. If you live in the city, the growing season will be a bit longer than the county and the wintertime lows a little higher. In the country, and particularly in valleys or on hilltops, you are probably going to be seeing colder temps. Use this info to find a variety best suited to your location. For example, outside of the city, you might want to choose a cold hardy variety like Olympian, Brown Turkey, or Hardy Chicago.
This massive fig has several factors working in its favor. First, it’s in a courtyard, which shields it from strong, drying winds. The whitewashed brick walls aren’t close to the fig, but they are likely providing some solar gain in the winter. Third, it’s situated on a hill, so the coldest air settles away from the tree. Pretty neat.
Next, you’ll want to scout your yard for the microclimates which will be the most advantageous for your figs. The most important factor is access to sun and water, but in some cases you can use architecture to your fig’s benefit. For example, the warmest location is usually near a south-facing brick wall. The wall will never shade your tree, and bricks radiate heat absorbed by the sun even in the coldest days of winter. In fall, this could also potentially extend the ripening season for varieties like Kadota.
A fig planted in a wine barrel make a great patio plant. If you put in on a dolly, you can roll into your garage for the winter.
What if you don’t have a lot of in-ground real estate, but a sunny balcony? choose a compact variety that can be grown in a container. When winter comes, these can be moved inside to an unheated garage, or easily wrapped and protected against a building.
Most of us are not lucky enough to have a microclimate figs can overwinter in, and will need to provide a little extra care to winterize our trees, or risk them being damaged in the frequent freeze/thaw cycles.
Historically, the Italian immigrants who popularized figs in the northeast used a trenching method to get their trees through the winter. This requires digging a two foot deep trench slightly longer than the height of the fig, bundling the branches together, and partially excavating the rootball so that the ENTIRE TREE can be bent to the ground and laid in the trench. Then the trench is back-filled, ideally with the majority of the tree below the soil line and a bit of a mound on top, and then covered with a tarp and insulating leaves or mulch. A variation suspends the tree in the trench without backfilling, covering the trench with a sheet of plywood, then covering that with soil. With this method the entire tree is protected by the thermal mass of the ground, and while it will freeze, it doesn’t experience drying winds or the coldest temperatures.
At Edible Eden, we typically use another method, insulating the tree above ground. Start by giving the tree a thick blanket of mulch. Then, similar to the trenching method, you bundle the bendy branches into a central mass. Straw is packed between the branches and around the tree mass, using chicken wire to keep the straw in place. If you already have a deer proofing cage on your figs, this is a great second use. Next swaddle the cage in a few layers of burlap, followed by a waterproof membrane such as a tarp or tarpaper. Make sure that the tarp extends to the ground and is layered in a way that will shed water, if possible top the whole thing with a bucket. Finally, pack some soil around the base of the whole thing, which gives some extra protection to the crown of the tree.
