Message Boards

Everything around my house is springing and blooming except this fig tree in my back yard (pictures below). Is the tree dead? Or does it take longer to bloom?

Fig tree in the backyard

closer shot

Thanks in advance

I'm only guessing but I think it will put out
new growth as the weather gets warmer. When are fig trees supposed to be prunes? Our walnut trees are just beginning to have leaves & I live in the South. Hope it will be ok.

you may be right, I had a fig tree in the backyard of the previous house I rented and I think the tree bloomed after spring

here's another question: will the smoke or heat from the outdoor grill/fireplace be bad for the fig tree?

My post should have read... when are fig trees
supposed to be pruned? (not prunes) lol! Sorry, about that. Are you going to cut back the branches that are near or over the grill? I don't think smoke would hurt it but I don't know about the heat.

Yes, the heat will damage the tree to some extent...how much will depend on how hot the bbq gets!
To test to see if the tree is still viable...try to break a branch. If it snaps (is dry) it's most likely dead...if it bends or is pliable it should still be alive.

Thanks! Its still alive, I bent it and it wasn't dry.

Well, the squirrels ate all the figs from the last fig tree we had at the previous house we rented so I'd imagine that'll be the case here too. I think I'll just remove it and focus my energy on restoring that outdoor grill/fireplace instead

Thanks everyone!

I guess it’s taking time. And mind you I said I guess.

That is a really cool brick outdoor kitchen!

If you are going to use that then I'd take out the tree and all the other over grown stuff.

I see lots of great summer evenings in that setting!

so, have you gotten it down yet? or is it putting new leaves on? if it were me, I'd probably at least take off the branches nearest the barbecue. I took out what I thought was one crabapple tree just by cutting out the branches down to the ground. & then discovered that it had 2 sets of roots to it. so, it was actually 2 trees planted close together. after a year I was able to pull the roots out with a shovel, after they had died enough to dig them out. I also managed to do the same thing to a tree that had grown into my back deck. that one was much shorter & easier to take out. if I can do it, so can you.

No, I ended up not cutting it down or trimming it back. I'm assuming it'll be expensive to restore that outdoor fireplace and I'm too lazy to work out a budget for that now. I'll leave the fig tree alone until I can restore the fireplace.

In the meantime, I'm going to hope the squirrels will leave some figs for me this year.