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Winter protection strategies for figs and other cold-sensitive plants
As a permaculturist and plant lover, I love pushing the edges of the possible, and I love working with other adventurous gardeners who delight in also pushing their horticultural edges. I’m also practical enough to do my edge pushing in ways that will lead to successful outcomes. If the edge you’re pushing is to grow marginally hardy plants in your garden till global warming catches up and it becomes easy, then it’s wise to make informed decisions and develop strategies that have a high probability of success.
First, to make good horticultural choices, know your place and its winter microclimate. What’s easy in the Piedmont and requires no special strategies, is possible in the Asheville area at elevations below 2500’, yet may require special winterization strategies to succeed in the higher elevations of our mountains and points north.
I want to use figs to illustrate this approach to gardening. The same process and techniques would also apply to growing the hardier citruses, pomegranates, and tea camellias to mention a few. The first goal of winter protecting figs is to protect the plant so that you’ll get plenty of fruit next year. It is particularly important to protect young or recently planted plants from cold temperature winter stem damage. Figs are root hardy with mulch to around -15 degrees F. Fig stems and branches will die at 5 degrees F, and will suffer cold damage at temperatures below 10 or 12 degrees F. Practically, what this means is that, though your fig plant may survive and regrow from the roots with harsh winter temperatures, your likelihood of getting many or any ripe figs that year will be minimal if you live in the mountains or points north.
Since our goal is to cultivate an abundance of delightfully ripe figs for our gustatory delight, I recommend the following strategies for winter protection.
1. BRING ‘EM IN: Grow compact varieties such as ‘Negronne’ or ‘Vern’s Brown Turkey’ in containers and bring the whole plant into an unheated space that will stay above 22 degrees F, such as a garage, basement, crawl space, or greenhouse for the winter. Do this after the plant goes dormant and keep it occasionally watered. This is a lot of trouble, since you will need to keep container grown plants regularly watered and pruned outdoors during the growing season.
2. USE MICROCLIMATE: Choose a good microclimate for growing figs in the ground. Grown outdoors, choose a sunny location, protected from winter winds, with good soil drainage, and a heavy winter mulch. Most years around our area, this will do the trick, particularly as the plant matures. You should still be prepared to run out and do one of the following protection strategies if we get into bitterly cold temperatures.
3. TIMING: Cover or winter protect your plants, particularly during their first few years of life in your landscape. For our area, near Asheville, NC, I recommend protecting your fig plants from around Thanksgiving until early to mid March. This period will vary some depending on where you live and how the season is playing out.
4. THE LEAF BAG METHOD: For small young figs going through their first winter, the leaf bag method is the easiest and quickest. Collect from curbside, or fill your own 30 gallon size plastic leaf bags with dry leaves and twist tie closed the top of the filled bags. Then invert the bags, so the twist tied end is down to keep the leaves in the bag dry, and snug two or three of these bags up against the fig plant’s stems and branches. Then use some garden twine tied around the bags to cinch the bags tightly to the fig plant. The leaves in the bags will act to insulate the plants stems and roots and prevent any tissue death through the winter. For larger plants use more filled leaf bags. This method will work for plants up to 3-4’ tall.
5. TIE AND WRAP: This is a good method that will work well for small to large plants, though can be quite a project for really large plants. I always recommend annual light pruning to keep your plants compact and easy to harvest. First tie the branches of your fig plant up with strapping or heavy garden twine. This pulls the plant’s flexible stems in tightly and makes them easier to wrap. Tie the string or strapping at the bottom of the fig and spiral the strapping around the plant. Cinch and tighten as you go up. Then tie the strapping or twine off to a sturdy upper branch at the top. I prefer strapping as it is less likely to damage the plant’s bark. You have probably seen Christmas trees or nursery trees in transit tied up this way. The next step is to put down a heavy mulch of leaves around the fig’s root zone and up the main stem a foot or so. Now you’re ready to wrap your plant. The best material to wrap your plant with is a heavy nursery winter protection blanket fabric with good insulative properties. This HARD TO FIND material, as well as strapping, is available from Useful Plants Nursery. Call or check the website for pricing and info. Other wrapping materials that you can use are old acrylic or wool blankets, which will have good insulative properties, or old sheets, fabrics or burlap, which will primarily provide wind dessication protection, but may be enough protection for milder winter areas. Never use plastic or old plastic tarps to wrap your plants! To wrap your plants, use spring clips or clothespins to attach one edge of the fabric to the plant’s branches, then wrap the fabric around the plant several times and use several more spring clips to attach the final edge of the fabric to the bundle. Or you might need to wrap some more strapping around to secure the fabric. The more wrapped layers of the insulative material you use, the better insulated the plant will be.
6. WINTER PROTECTION FRAMES: These are basically temporary frames that you build around your fig plant to protect it from winter wind and cold. They can be filled with leaves in colder climates to provide additional insulation and then occasionally topped off with more leaves as the leaves settle, if necessary. There are basically three styles: wire cages, pyramidal frames, and box frames. To reduce the size of these frames for larger plants, you may want to tie your plants up and prune off some of the plant’s top growth to make it fit the frame.
7. WIRE CAGES: Make a cylindrical wire cage around the plant with either chickenwire or welded wire fencing. Secure it with stakes or rebar driven into the ground to keep it from toppling in snow or wind. Fill the cage with leaves, being sure to tuck any branches that reach the outside edge back into the leaves so they are not exposed to winter winds. Secure a piece of plastic over the top of the cage to keep the leaves dry so they don’t settle when wet and then you’re done.
8. PYRAMIDAL FRAMES: Make a four-sided pyramid over the plant with bamboo or wooden poles, rebar, fiberglass rods, or 2”x2” framing lumber. Secure this frame to the ground by burying the ends, or using landscape staples, or spikes to hold it down. Heavily mulch the plant’s root zone and on up the stem with leaves. Then attach an insulative fabric or winter protection blanket to the frame with spring clips or staples, wrap the fabric for a turn or two around the frame and finish off the fabric attachment with spring clips or staples. You might use landscape stapes to secure the bottom edges to the ground.
9. BOX FRAMES: This simple system, similar to pyramidal framing, involves driving four posts in a square pattern around your plant and covering it with a winter protection fabric on the sides and top. Make sure the posts are a little taller than the plant when finished. If you use wood posts, you can staple the fabric to the posts, if you use metal or rebar posts, you can use spring clips or wire ties to secure the fabric material.
Then get ready for an abundant fig harvest next year. Useful Plants Nursery has a couple videos illustrating how to construct these various winter protection systems. While some of these protection systems might be considered eyesores, they all present opportunities to combine beauty and function when you turn them into art projects. Let your imagination fly and envision future fruit! May figs fill your dreams.
Many blessings on you and your family this winter.
111 Another Way, Black Mountain, NC 28711
(828) 669-6517