If you don't want to do some serious cutting I don't know what to say.

Here is a tree I planted in a pot three years ago which is about the same time you planted yours. I chose to go wider rather than taller.

At this point it's about 7' tall and 5' wide. It has a central leader and roughly 24 other scaffolds forming that create kind of an upside down umbrella shape thats filling in nicely. It's growing like mad now and will need a lot of pruning come winter.

Last week I started pinching back the small branches that are forming on the scaffolds and the central leader to about their 6th node.

I plan on topping the tree this year to about 8' when it gets there. I bet I will be picking pails of ripe figs from this tree this year.

The way I look at it tall trees are nice to look at but but all I want to do is grow fruit and pick it.

{{gwi:775936}}.

maple,

generally speaking, prune back to where you want branching to occur. After cutting, new branches will emerge from the node below the cut.

steve nj8 Now that I look at it, it looks like I was trying to patronize maple a little but that was not my intent. I just wanted to give him an idea of what another tree of the same age looks like when grown a different way.

I also wanted to see if he was willing to drastically change the way the tree looks before giving him advice

If it were me I would top that tree at 4'-5' and stand back and watch it grow.

thisisme,

I think I would prune it hard also if it was my tree and get a lot of branching and new growth.

Hi thisisme and steve_nj8,

Thanks for your responses!

I would like to prune the branches of the goblet way down as you suggest, but should I be worried that it would leave the tree with no leaves whatsoever?

Also, can you tell me if this a good time of year to do hard pruning?

Hi thisisme,

Thanks for sharing the photo of your fig tree. It certainly has a lot more leaves than mine! Can I ask if your tree also had very few leaves when you started out? All the information I have read on fig tree pruning imply that one's working with a plant with leaves on multiple nodes per branch. This has never been the case with my tree. That's why I decided to ask here about how to prune it, and whether it's safe to leave it with no leaves at all.

Maple:
Bonjour!
Don't worry, you will not kill your tree.
If you are still uneasy about pruning all of the branches back, then keep one of your leafed branches and prune back the other to the level that everyone is suggesting. Once you see buds forming on the branches you pruned, then cut back the one with the leaves.
Leon

Leon's advice is correct and saved me a bunch of typing.

Hi Maple, I would have to agree with Leon and Steve. Figs are incredibly hardy trees and you are not going to hurt it even with heavy pruning. A tree of that size has a well established root system that will fuel its growth after a sever pruning.

I would cut it off at 4'-5' and not worry and watch it grow. The reason I say that is because you will be amazed at how rapidly it will put on new growth once it has been pruned.

Maple,

If you decide to follow through with the pruning you might want to check out the concept of air layering. You could easily have several trees.

Peace,
Little John

Hi All,

Thanks, Leon, for telling me how to prune my tree in detail!

I've gone ahead and pruned all the branches off so the tree's about 4 ft tall now. Now, I'm going to watch it grow, so to speak!

Thanks Little John for the idea of layer. I decided not to do that this year though since I just want to get the tree in shape as soon as possible. I will consider it in a future pruning, however.

Hello Little John,

Now that I think of it, I believe my fig tree is grafted. Would the plant from air layering result in a robust plant that would bear fruit?

Hi Map1e,
I'm doubtful that your tree was grafted. Although your tree could've been grafted its more work for the nursery and why would they do that when a fig does fine on its own roots? I would suggest that you try to root some of your cuttings or if you have any suckers come up pot those up and compare them to the mother tree. If its grafted the suckers and the cuttings that you took will be different. Either the fruit color or leaf structure would be different. Would it be a robust plant if you air layered.... Yes, the fig would have a good headstart if you air layered a section of your 10 ft tree and cut it down to 6ft you would have a 4 ft tree instantly...well almost, you'd have to have roots develop first. I guess that your current option for propagating more trees would be to root some cuttings.

Good luck,
Little John

Hello all,

I just wanted to tell you that my fig tree is looking great after following your advice. Thank you!!

There are short branches and leaves coming out of the upper part of each branch on the goblet. It looks beautiful.

Now that I have it as I want, are there any tips for keeping it roughly this size and shape? Is this even possible to do so and still get fruit?

Can you post some new pictures