Pruning Fruit Trees

Fig (Black – e.g., Mission)

• Scientific Name

  Ficus carica
• Special Considerations

  

  Photo: Joanna Kosinska

  Black figs require light pruning only. 

• Fruit grows on:

  Old wood (on spurs). 

• What to Prune in Winter

  Remove dead, diseased or damaged branches. 

  Remove crossing branches. 

  Remove any suckers growing from the base of the tree or from the roots. 

  Use thinning and releadering cuts to keep the top of the tree open and the branches evenly spaced.

• What to Prune in Summer

  While the new limbs are growing but before mid-summer.

  Prune lightly, because figs bleed heavily when not in dormant season. 

  Pinch out new shoots when they have made five to six leaves. This ensures that more energy will go into fruit development than leaf development. 

  Pruning on older trees may not be necessary, because they grow more slowly than younger trees.