Category: fruit trees

The Budding Orchardist: Winter Pruning Little Miss Figgy for Spring

On By durhammastergardenersIn Cocoa Cinnamon Demonstration Garden, Downtown Durham, NC, Durham NC, figs, fruit in the home garden, fruit trees, pruning fruit trees, Uncategorized

“The only true wisdom is in knowing you know nothing.”

-Socrates

By Jeff Kanters, NC State Extension Master GardenerSM volunteer of Durham County

In February the Cocoa Cinnamon Demonstration Garden team was planning preparation of all the containers for the upcoming growing season. One task included the dormant pruning of the prized Little Miss Figgy fig tree located in one of the large planters. Deborah Pilkington, Master Gardener volunteer and leader for the Cocoa Cinnamon Demonstration Garden, reached out to me for guidance and assistance in winter pruning the fig. In preparation, the team re-familiarized themselves with the maintenance a fig requires, including general growth habits, and culture.

Two smiling individuals posing for a photo outdoors, with a blurred background showing a recreational area.
A hand holding six ripe, dark purple figs with a slightly shiny surface, set against a wooden floor background.

(Left) Master Gardener volunteers Jeff Kanters and Deborah Pilkington in February of 2025 examining and pruning the fig variety “Little Miss Figgy” (Ficus carica ‘MAJOAM‘), which grows in our urban container demonstration garden at Cocoa Cinnamon in downtown Durham. (Right) In July 2024, Little Miss Figgy produced delicious fruit during its third growing season. (Image credit: Allie Mullin; Deborah Pilkington)

Fig Characteristics and Growing Conditions

Figs or common fig trees, known as Ficus carica, are a woody, deciduous, multi-stemmed, spreading trees or shrubs grown widely throughout the United States. The plant is native to the southwestern Asia and eastern Mediterranean regions, known for producing the coveted delicious fruits or figs. Fig trees have large, hand-shaped multiple lobed leaves, almost tropical like. Some varieties can grow vigorously and become quite large, often reaching heights of up to 60 feet in some regions of the world. However, in the southeastern United States, the maximum heights are typically 10 to 30 feet tall. As with the many varieties of figs available, there are differences in growth habits and in cold hardiness.


Even though some varieties may be more cold hardy than others, most figs generally do the best in
warmer climates such as the subtropical southeast. Figs also need full sun (6 – 8 hours per day) for
optimal growth, health, and fruiting. Some varieties of figs produce two crops during the season. The first crop, called the breba crop, is produced on old wood and reaches maturity in the late spring. A second crop is produced on the new growth of the season and tends to be the heavier and tastier crop that reaches maturity by the late summer to fall.


If you need encouragement to try growing figs, note this: they an excellent source of antioxidants and nutrients. One medium size fig (approximately 50 grams) has 37 calories, 10 grams of carbohydrates, and 1.5 grams of dietary fiber, which is slightly more than an equivalent amount of banana fruit.

Little Missy Figgy (Ficus carica ‘MAJOAM’)  is a fig tree cultivar, specifically a dwarf variety known for its compact size and small, sweet, edible figs. This tree typically reaches a height of 4 – 6 feet. This fig also produces two crops of figs per year, one in spring and another in fall. It can be grown in USDA Zones 5 – 10. Given the smaller size of this fig tree, it is attractive to many homeowners to grow and manage if they have a more limited garden space. And as we are proving in our urban demonstration garden, this fig can also grow in a large container.

A close-up view of a fig tree branch featuring small green figs, surrounded by green leaves. In the background, urban elements such as parked cars and café seating are visible under a cloudy sky.


Little Miss Figgy’s first breba crop. (Image credit: Deborah Pilkington)


Of special interest, while some figs rely on the tiny fig wasp to pollinate to produce fruit, other figs, such as Little Miss Figgy, do not require wasps for pollination and fruit production. These varieties are termed parthenocarpic, meaning they can produce fruit without pollination. Most commercial figs are grown without wasps. Light pruning in winter is usually necessary for figs to maintain an attractive and manageable open shape, and size.

Steps to Winter Pruning Little Miss Figgy

Inspection

The team inspected the fig onsite, and here’s what we found. Little Miss Figgy, while leafless in February, displayed many unruly branches and suckers that had grown up from the base or lower limbs the previous year. Higher up, side branches were found crossing over other branches, growing inward and upward in haphazard fashion from seven main trunks, a few of the trunks crossing over and rubbing on one another.

Pruning Process and Materials
A dormant fig tree, Little Miss Figgy, with bare branches in a container garden, surrounded by other plants.
Urban garden scene featuring a dormant fig tree in winter, surrounded by modern buildings and landscaping. The fig tree has multiple branches and is part of a community gardening project.


(Left) Here is a “before” photo of the plant in February prior to late winter pruning. Note the sprawling suckers and crossing branches visible while the plant is in its dormant stage. (Right) After the pruning makeover, Little Miss Figgy is all set for spring and summer growth and fruit production. (Image credit Allie Mullin)


The team designed a 5-point action plan for pruning:

  1. Select the main core trunks to serve as structure. This would involve removing those trunks
    crossing over other trunks.
  2. Remove one trunk with a few of the outward branches that were growing out into the seating
    area next to the fig.
  3. Remove all the previous season’s sucker growth from the base to direct energy to main trunks.
  4. Open the interior up by removing all upward, inward and downward growing branches.
  5. Leave the remaining four trunks alone without any heading cuts at the top as each displayed a
    shortened dwarfing growth that would limit further elongation.

Tools the team used for the job:

  • Gloves
  • Small to medium sized crescent-shaped pruning saw
  • Hand loppers
  • Standard hand pruning shears or battery-operated electric sheers

The Results

The team completed the pruning according the plan. As Little Miss Figgy began leafing out in April, we nipped off new green suckers that developed at the base. This allowed the plant to direct energy to the main trunks and canopy for fruit development. A new and improved Little Miss Figgy was ready for the season ahead.

A healthy Little Miss Figgy fig tree growing in an urban container garden, surrounded by metal planters and residential buildings in the background.

Little Miss Figgy in April 2025 following the winter pruning. (Image credit: Jeff Kanters)

Resources and Additional Information:

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The Budding Orchardist: Rescue Pruning a Neglected Pear Tree

On By durhammastergardenersIn Briggs Avenue Community Garden Teaching Orchard, fruit production, fruit trees, gardening, pruning, pruning fruit trees, Uncategorized

By Jeff Kanters, NC State Extension Master GardenerSM volunteer of Durham County

“The only true wisdom is in knowing you know nothing.”

–Socrates

(Image credit: Jeff Kanters)

When counseling visitors on managing fruit trees at Briggs Avenue Community Gardens Teaching Orchard, I was occasionally asked about how to prune an older neglected fruit tree to a more manageable size. Typically, a homeowner had inherited a large, gnarly, tangled tree left from the previous homeowner or may have left a tree unmanaged over years.

Late fall of 2024 I had the opportunity to provide onsite consultation to a PTA volunteer crew at Hope Valley Elementary School seeking to renovate an older, 25-foot tall, neglected, unsightly Kieffer pear (Pyrus communis ‘Kieffer’) tree in a courtyard being re-landscaped.

Image of a Kieffer pear tree (Pyrus communis ‘Kieffer’) in bloom and closeup of its late-spring flowers. (Image credit: Gary Owens CC BY 2.0)

Researching the Tree

So what is a Kieffer pear? Kieffer pears are the result of an accidental cross between the Sand pear (Pyrus pyrifolia) native to Asia, and the common American Bartlett pear (Pyrus communis) during the 1860s. While it is often recommended to have two pear trees to produce the most fruit per cross-pollination, Kieffer pears, with their Asian ancestry, are self-fertile, meaning they are not as dependent on another pear nearby to cross-pollinate and set fruit. Kieffer pears are also very disease resistant.

Evaluating the Tree

To get started we inspected the tree, and observed the following:

  • Overall, the core trunk bark appeared intact and healthy.
  • The tree bore many pears during the past season and many large overripe pears were still hanging from the top upper most canopy as unreachable to harvest.
  • Numerous dead and broken, large, jagged limbs protruded at the base of the tree and from along the lower trunk opening the tree up to disease.
  • Rather than one central leader trunk, three competing leaders were all growing up close together and the crotch angles where the leaders grew from the core lower trunk were very narrow, and therefore weak and prone to splitting off from the tree during high winds.
  • Many of the older limbs had tall branches or whips growing directly upward, inward toward the trunk, downward to the ground, and crossing over each other. Pears are one of the more unruly fruit trees to manage with their tendency to wildly send new growth upward in columnar fashion and scaffold branching to grow out every which way. When the tree was leafed out, this would result in shading the interior of the tree reducing air circulation and inviting diseases.

Kieffer pear before start of first pruning. (Image credit: Debra Pilkington)

Developing a Plan

To complete the tree rehabilitation, we set up the following phased three-year corrective pruning plan:

  1. To begin, prune out about one third of the tree growth this first season. Since the tree was old,  taking too much would shock the tree and force unwanted, uncontrolled, excessive new branch growth the next season, making the canopy prone to sunburn and diseases. The team would follow this same method for the next three seasons to gradually reduce the tree height and shape.
  2. Prune out all dead, diseased, and broken limbs and branches.
  3. Prune out the branches growing upward, downward, inward, and crossing over into each other.
  4. Select the largest central leader from the multiple leaders and remove the other smaller competitive leaders, thus leaving only one. This would also open the center of the tree to more air and sunlight.
  5. After several years of corrective pruning, and bringing the top canopy down further, the rejuvenated tree should only require more manageable pruning, maintenance, and harvesting each year thereafter.

Identifying the Tools for the Job

Undertaking a project of this size required a team and key tools that included:

  1. Ladder
  2. Small battery powered hand chainsaw or small and large pruning saw, rather than a chain saw (Note of caution: No one should be alone and use any chain saw without the proper training, supervision, and use of personal protective equipment (PPE).
  3. Telescopic saw and loppers
  4. Hand loppers
  5. Standard hand pruning shears
  6. Safety helmet or head covering
  7. Safety goggles
  8. Gloves
  9. Non-snag clothing
  10. Heavy duty canvas pants
  11. Heavy work boots or chainsaw boots with protective guarding at front instep

Kieffer pear during first pruning. (Image credit: Jeff Kanters)

Phase one pruning was successfully completed. One experienced volunteer opted to use his handheld battery-operated chain saw for removal of a few of the larger limbs. A large pruning saw would also have sufficed.

Kieffer pear at completion of first phase of pruning. (Image credit: Jeff Kanters)

Considering This Type of Project in the Home Landscape

If you are considering undertaking a renewal project of this type in your home landscape, keep the following in mind. Depending on the size of the tree, what limbs or branches need to be removed, and your skill at pruning, it may be safest and best to hire a trained, reputable, experienced arborist to make initial key cuts on the tree. You can supervise, but let professionals handle the most heavy-duty work. If you choose to do it yourself, you should have a few helpers on hand. Projects of this size should not be left to one person to perform alone.

If you use a ladder, as the ground is typically never flat around a tree, no one should be alone on the ladder, but rather have another spotter below holding the ladder for that person.

A last thought. While it may be a worthwhile project, before you consider rescue-pruning a large overgrown fruit tree, ask yourself a few questions:

  • Is the tree viable, free of disease overall, and producing good fruit yet?
  • Is tree worth the expense, effort, time, and risk to prune back?
  • Would it be better to have the tree completely removed and replaced with a small young tree you can manage better from the outset?

Whatever your decision, rehabilitating an old fruit tree is something that can be done successfully.

Resources and Additional Information

Training and Pruning Fruit Trees in North Carolina:

https://content.ces.ncsu.edu/training-and-pruning-fruit-trees-in-north-carolina

How to Prune Neglected Apple Trees, Iowa State University Extension:

https://yardandgarden.extension.iastate.edu/how-to/how-prune-neglected-apple-trees#:~:text=Prune%20out%20all%20dead%2C%20diseased,over%202%20or%203%20years.

Pruning to Renovate Old Fruit Trees, Penn State Extension:

https://extension.psu.edu/home-gardening-pruning-to-renovate-old-fruit-trees

Operating a Chainsaw:

https://www.hse.gov.uk/treework/safety-topics/chainppe.htm

North Carolina Extension Gardener Plant Toolbox:

https://plants.ces.ncsu.edu/plants/pyrus-communis-kieffer

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