Growing a fig tree in a city garden

[PinkCamelias]

Do you have fig trees in small gardens? Is it necessary/advised to restrict the roots? I don’t think I like the look of a wall trained fig much, I’d prefer an actual tree. I’d like it for fruit, of course, but also because they’re beautiful. My concerns are that fig trees grow wide and take a lot of space, so I’m still trying to decide if it would be the right choice.

I have one in a big pot. No fruit yet but it is very happy and has grown loads this year. I do feed it because it is in a pot.

@Geneticsbunny Did you plant it in a pot because you preferred to, or because you didn’t have space in the garden? I could have it in a pot too if that’s advised; but I have space for it in the ground (but I can plant another tree there!)

I also have a fig tree in a very large terracotta pot. It grows as a normal tree, but restricting the roots apparently promotes leaf and fruit growth. I bought it as a small sapling 4 years ago. It's now 2m tall and bears a small number of very delicious figs.

I think you need to be careful with planting fig trees. My in laws had one in their small London garden and it caused huge problems with the roots.

Mine is a Rouge de Bordeaux. I have more recently planted a more hardy brown fig in a pot and that is growing very quickly. You do need to feed and water them in the Summer.

I have a Brown Turkey in a pot. I have a south facing garden, and it’s against a nice warm wall.

I’ve had a few lovely figs from it this year. It makes me feel like a Roman empress!

We went on a ceremonial trip to buy Posh Cheese to have with our first 2 homegrown figs!

🤣 yes I suppose I’d like to feel like one too!

Mine, if in a pot, would need to be on a patio, in full sun but not against the wall.

2 m? That sounds great! Did you plant it in its final big container right away, or did you repot it at some point?

It has progressed through several pots! I overwintered the Rouge fig in the Summer House for the first couple of years. I didn't bother doing that with the brown one.

I am growing a brown turkey one in a pot, she has three figs currently growing and I can't wait until they ripen!

@Fozzleyplum thank you!
Overwintering is a good point; I wouldn’t be able to do it, so I need to choose the right variety and the Brown Turkey is indeed recommended

I kept mine in only whilst it was small, so you could put it in the house.

@Fozzleyplum @No3392 I understand your excitement with your crop :)
When we started looking for a house, the first one we viewed had a big fig tree growing in the garden. It was October and the agent gave us some ripe figs. It was a revelation to me that I could actually have my own fig tree! I decided then that I’d try to plant one in a house we’d finally buy :)

I had one in a large pot but it froze to death one winter. If you put it in a pot I recommend you move it somewhere quite sheltered in winter and wrap it in that woolly stuff to protect it from freezing too hard.

I have a ginormous fig tree. It was already here when I bought the house but has grown huge over 8 years.

I had it cut back yesterday. It's not in a position where roots should cause an issue. But I haven't noticed any either. I do get a ton of wasps because I don't have the ability to harvest all the figs the moment they're ripe. Once the wasps move in, you must be extremely careful when picking any!

The sap causes problems for some gardeners.

But I love it. It smells amazing. The birds and insects love it too.

The trunk is probably about 30cm diameter but it's a massive tree. The branches grow very fast and they're quite spindly and bendy. So you get a lot of tree from not much structure if you see what I mean.

Had no idea you could have one in a pot! I can't imagine it being that contained.

(Obviously only wrap the pot and base of trunk, not the entire tree!) 😂

When should I be planting/getting a fig tree? (Pot for me for now I think)
I want one, and the necessary posh cheese!

What sort of aspect does a fig tree like! Full sun? Shade? I would like one but I don’t know where to put it.

Yes, that’s what I heard too, and I’m curious if someone planted a fig tree with restricted roots in the garden, instead of in a pot? And did it work well?
A neighbour a couple of houses behind my garden has what I’m pretty sure is a big fig tree. It seems to be planted relatively near the wall (of course, since the gardens are not wide). No idea how it’s planted though.

Mine both get full sun in the afternoon.

Here are my 2.

@Windywuss Your tree seems wonderful! I would have to plant mine quite near the wall (the whole garden is 6m wide so 1-1,5 m from the wall maybe?) so probably it couldn’t grow unrestricted.

We're in Italy, and fig trees literally grow as weeds in our garden. Once they're rooted, even as tiny shoots, they're impossible to dig out. They're literally breaking up our paved paths.

Best to grow in a pot or in a place that has restricted root space.

As much sun as possible if in UK. We have 3 large trees in Italy; some are in shade but doesn't matter for us.

Other tip is to remove the smaller figs to allow space for larger fruits. I do this in July, but I guess this isn't an issue for people with small trees.