Yes it is the best metod,but not for young fig in their first winter.They will completelly disintegrate do to soft wood tissue.
First winter positivelly need to be wintered in an unheted enclosed garage where the temp,Stay around 35 F.
Second year you can take a chance and bury them,at least six inches under.Make sure the ground is higher where fig is buried so water do not inundate them.Regards

Herman thanks for that information.

I have about twelve new fig trees I rooted this spring.

I can see now it would have been a mistake to bury them this coming winter.

Maybe if you could keep the branches dry, when you burried them, they would not rot?

Also, I'm worried mice will eat them.

Herman and others, I have a question related to the above thoughts: what if I took one of those very large Rubbermaid storage containers (not quite certain of the # of gallons, but they're big rectangular thingies with lids) and literally set it down into the ground in the fall (kind of the way you half-bury a container, except put this so the top of the container is at nearly ground level or maybe even slightly below), and then took dormant figs (smaller ones, maybe under two or three feet?) out of their containers, bagged their rootballs in Ziploc bags (with dirt around them), and lay/stacked them inside the container, popped the lid on it tight (presuming it'd be nearly water-proof) and then heaped some dirt and mulch over the top, effectively creating a mini root cellar, but guarded from water and rodents, etc., by the plastic container's walls. Would this work in theory for even young rooted cuttings to overwinter them? you could even wrap them in something insulating and bag them loosely inside the Rubbermaid container before you "put them to bed" for the winter, if there was any worry about water seeping into the container at all. Thoughts?

Sherry

Theory is sound, Sherry, but sealing the container guarantees fungal/mold issues. I would skip the plastic bags on the roots, too - same reason. Hey - have an idea. They make pretty large, inexpensive plastic containers with lots of slots in them. If you bury those & fill with plant material and perlite, very coarse sand, Turface, or another product similar to those on list, you'd be fine. Make sure there are holes in the bottom & that the media never completely dries. Cover loosely with boards or something that will allow some gas exchange.

YBIC&PA

Sorry i can't say nothin about other metods,i just know from Experience that my young trees disintegreted when buried while the older ones were just fine.So i am not going to experiment no more.Let someone else do!!!!!!!

Thanks for those ideas sherry and tapla.

I had been pondering along those lines.

I think dipping the branches in "captan", before putting them to bed, might be a good idea, so as to discourage fungal growth.

Also, I would pack the roots (only) in a mixture of vermiculite and water crystals to keep them moist.

The holes in the bottom sounds like a good idea:
if there was too much moisture it would allow it to escape;
and it would also allow moisture in.

Sounds like a good way to keep any plant dormant untill your ready for it to grow?

Huck