On 11/23/2014 11:58 AM, Brooklyn1 wrote:
Norminn wrote:

Well, I am an optimist, so I am trying. My brother-in-law is an expert
gardener and has raised figs for many years....but he digs a trench and
buries his tree each year. He gave us a small tree (much too late in
the year) and I had plans to dig said trench in my garden but just ran
out of time between family activities, cold weather and the difficulty
of digging deeply enough. So, I did get down below the topsoil to find
hardpan and rock....dug out a lot of that, screened out rock and stones,
mixed in some sand and a lot of compost. Placed roots carefully, piled
in the soil and then some shredded cypress mulch. Bound branches and
wrapped tree with bubble wrap ) Placed a chicken-wire cage around the
tree, filled that with dry leaves (packed) and then wrapped the whole
with black plastic. We had frost in early Sept. this year, so winter
temps are anyone's guess. Has anyone else kept fig trees outdoors in
Zone 5?

The secret is knowing the Italian winter wrap:
http://www.i-italy.org/bloggers/4526...-figs-brooklyn
http://figs4funforum.websitetoolbox....winter-4505553


Ahhh, I've read articles about NYC fig growers, but that is a good deal
warmer than my Zone 5. My brother-in-law learned to cook and garden
from his Italian grandmother, and "burying" the fig tree every year is
now a family tradition at his house, followed by a feast! Oh, what good
cooks! We tried to get the tree in spring, but schedules didn't agree,
so we retrieved it early November! Soil still tillable, but to bury in
in the recommended 2' trench I would have needed power equipment because
the subsoil is so hard.

I have seen -25 temp in my area, but that was rather long ago. Coldest
last winter was...maybe zero, briefly. Our summer was totally crazy; my
lilac and mock cherry didn't bloom in spring, but in OCTOBER the lilac
and poppies tried to bloom.