Thanks Bahia, no walls or pavement to worry about. I just don't want it to get out of hand - it is grouped with other fruit trees.

Have you happened to taste locally grown figs? This first years small crop was not very sweet so i am not sure if it even gets hot enough here to make it worthwhile.

A cool summer can make a difference, and being in a windy or foggy area also lessens sugar content. I only plant them where they will get full sun and benefit from trapped or reflected heat here in Berkeley, and if you pick better adapted varieties they can be okay, but still wont quite match those grown in hotter climes.

I have never tried your variety either, but had Mission when I lived in Watsonville, about four miles from the coast. We would only get some ripe figs one in five years. The 'Brown Turkey' did better. Yours may be better suited to a hotter dryer climate. Al

I suspect that any fig cultivar named "desert" will do best somewhere that is really hot and dry in summer. Where are you located?

I think Elvie-your mixing up the big evergreen Ficus "fig tree's" with the edible Fig roots. The biggest Edible fig tree's have no large surface roots to lift a thing or do any damage.

Bahia,

Ironically enough, Desert King is generally considered one of the more reliable varieties for coastal areas.

OP,

Edible figs don't generally produce the buttressing roots common among their tropical brethren (although you can induce an approximation by putting them in clay soil in the spray zone of an automatic sprinkler set to water for five minutes every morning... - sorry, pet peeve :).

Ryan

I have a black jack that in about three years, has rendered three nearby raised beds almost useless. I suppose it could be some other tree ( I have redwoods and defers in the yard), but the fig is the closest.

redwoods are very invasive. I have them all over from trees quite a distance away. The root system has to be big as my trees are huge.

Penny

And fig tree-edible fig tree roots- are compartitively soft wooded. I have a whole group next to my home..not much problem digging through roots that dont seem invasive in the damaging sense-but they do send up shoots.
ANY tree is going to outcompete shrubs and small stuff for raised bed soils..Some like Redwoods,are champs at it.

Research has shown redwood roots within the top two feet of soil as far as 100 feet from the tree. Al

My apologies to my innocent fig tree then! Also, "defers" was supposed to be cedars.

I was given a small fig tree as a gift. I have a septic tank in the back yard, so I was wondering how far from the septic tank it is safe to plant. For this winter and perhaps next I am going to keep it in the pot, and bring it inside in the winter, because it is really small. Thanks for your help. Love the website.

I would like to know that too!

I can tell you that a 6 ft. tall Lattarula root went a good 18 ft. Laterally

We had/have invasive large figs in our back woods in the LA area. We have been strategically pulling some out to plant other slower-growing trees..The roots are not that deep.

Oh wow! thanks for the info. I'm just afraid that it may brake the walls of the septic tank ugh.

I had 4 little figs on what I called fig hill. One has been munched on by a gopher and died. Gophers have been awful this summer!!!

No doubt about the gophers. Cats help.

I have been re-planting my orchard, pulling out old trees and planting new ones. I recently removed a pear that was about 8 feet away from a 4' tall fig tree I had planted two years ago. There were multiple, large fig roots mixed in with those of the pear. It is clear to me that this small fig still had highly invasive roots, so be careful.

Figs root's can be very invasive..My dad's Mission had surface roots all over that corner of the yard..granted he could have watered more. I have a Br Turkey in Oregon and my research shows yes invasive.