In message , Tim Tyler writes
David W.E. Roberts wrote or quoted:

I have read many tales of how you have to box a fig in if planted in the
ground.
However, I am now a little dubious as to how effective this will be.

[snip anecdote]

Roots have a way of seeking food and water through the tiniest of gaps.

I gues if you want a tiny tree then it needs to be in a pot of some sorts,
on or in the ground.

If you have space for a large tree and some time, then let it grow free.
You will probably not get a large crop of figs compared to the size of the
tree in the early years, but you will probably get at least an many figs as
you do from the small, half starved pot bound tree.

Maybe. Make sure you factor the chainsaw that is likely to eventually
be needed into the budget, though.
Mine is in a very large pot - totally against the advice of someone here
for whom I great respect - and is thriving. I was advised to plant mine
out in the barrel of an old washing machine but failed to do so, mainly
because I didn't have one. Doesn't seem to have made much difference to
date and the roots are not yet bursting forth through the walls of the
pot. HTH.
--
June Hughes