Intro to How Figs Grow

Basics
Written By Steven Biggs - Fig Expert

By Steven Biggs

Figs Tolerate New Gardeners

Leaves are deciduous, which means they fall off when cold weather arrives.

In the book Grow Figs Where You Think You Can't, I repeat a simple message for readers: In places where figs don't usually grow, they are easy to grow.

One of the reasons for this is that that they're such resilient plants.

Here's what I say in the book:

Forgiving Plants

The first thing to remember about figs is that they are very, very forgiving plants. Remember that fig cutting I told you I took as a teenager? It languished under barely survivable conditions for 15 years until I gave it a proper spot.

They Want to go Dormant

The next most important thing about the way figs grow is that they lose their leaves after first frost. They WANT to go dormant. That means you can keep them over the winter even if you don’t have a bright, hot greenhouse. While they’re dormant, they don’t need light or much heat. Contrast this to lemons…

The large, lobed leaves grow on branches with grey bark. When cut, branches exude a milky white sap that can be irritating to the skin. Leaves are deciduous, which means they fall off when cold weather arrives. Unpruned, plants usually grow into a bush, but can be trained into small trees if that’s what you prefer.

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Steven Biggs - Fig Expert

Recognized by Garden Making Magazine as one of the "green gang" of Canadians making a difference in horticulture, Steven Biggs is a University of Guelph-trained horticulturist, former college instructor, and award-winning broadcaster and author.

He has been teaching gardeners how to grow figs in cold climates since 2011. But his interest in figs took off in 1993, while working at a nursery with the UK National Collection of figs.

He’s the author of the first book about growing figs in cold climates, the award-winning Grow Figs Where You Think You Can’t. His articles about growing figs have appeared in Fine Gardening, Garden Making, and Edible Toronto.

When not in the garden, you might catch him interviewing fig experts for his Fig Culture podcast.

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Grow Figs, Even in Cold Climates