I have about 100 fig plants from last year. I dealt with them in three different ways and can pass on my experience with them. I kept plants in a cold room, buried some in the garden, and others in a large mulch pile with a couple of feet of mulch over them. In this part of the world we often get 2 to 4 feet of snow for insulation too.

My best experience by far was in a mulch pile. I lifted the plants (two to six feet tall) and dropped them into pots when they were dormant in October and early November. I stacked them and laid them down in a six foot by six foot area, one on top of the other, put stakes in, to show where the edges were and buried them with mulch. I took them out, carefully, in mid April after the snow had gone, left them in their pots, and they are now in my greenhouse, in ground, not in pots, and thriving. There are many with breba figs (Black Jack). I lost none.

The bigger ones that I buried in the garden were a nightmare to get out. I damaged them more than I liked, and I seem to have set them back. The ones in the cold room (small ones), sprouted early and were put into a bright area in the house. When I put them out, they got hit by wind and scorched by sun. My early start, was not an early start.

This Fall, everything is going into the mulch pile.