Figs (Ficus carica) can be grown in most of the UK and northern Europe, but two things decide whether you get fruit, and neither is usually on the care label. The first is which type of fig the variety belongs to, because some types need an insect that does not live here. The second is how much soil the roots are given. A fig tree with a free root run grows leaves, one with confined roots sets fruit.
What you eat is an inflorescence, not a fruit
The fig is not a fruit in the botanical sense. It is an urn shaped inflorescence, a syconium, where the flowers face inwards into a hollow chamber. At the top sits a narrow opening, and through it the fig wasp (Blastophaga psenes) enters and pollinates the flowers of the wild forms. What you pick is many small fruits enclosed in a fleshy inflorescence.
Cultivated figs fall into four types:
Common figs: set fruit without pollination, that is parthenocarpically. This is the type you want.
Smyrna figs: need pollen from caprifigs, carried by the fig wasp. Without the wasp the figs drop.
San Pedro: set the first crop without pollination but need the wasp for the second.
Caprifigs: grown only as pollen donors and not eaten.
The fig wasp does not live in northern Europe, so only the first type works here. Parthenocarpic figs have been grown for more than 11,000 years. A fig tree sold in a northern European nursery is in practice always a common variety, but if you order cuttings from abroad you have to check the type.
Confine the roots, or you get leaves only
A fig tree with unlimited root volume puts its strength into shoots and leaves. Crowd the roots and vegetative growth slows, and the tree sets fruit instead. The difference between a fig tree that crops and one that only grows is measured in litres of soil.
| Planting method | Soil volume | Result |
|---|---|---|
| Pot, 30 cm wide and 30 cm deep | about 20 litres | Starting size. Move up one pot size every second year in March. |
| Root restricted pit against a wall, 60 x 60 x 60 cm | 145 to 180 litres of soil | The volume to aim for in open ground. The strength goes into fruit. |
| Open soil with no barrier | unlimited | Heavy leaf growth and few ripe figs. |
This is how you build the pit. Dig 60 cm deep and wide and line the sides with paving slabs set on edge that stand 2.5 cm above the soil surface, so the roots cannot cross the rim. Leave the base unlined, but put 10 to 20 cm of coarse gravel there. It drains and stops the roots going down. Backfill with the soil you dug out and keep at least 20 cm clear of the house footing.
Position, training and planting
Fig trees want full sun against a south or west facing wall. A wall of stone, brick or concrete stores the heat of the day and gives it back at night. The same principle governs where you place peach trees and grape vines.
Planting time: late winter to spring, so the tree has time to establish before autumn.
Soil: free draining in open ground, soil based compost in a pot.
Shape: tied in as a fan against a wall, around 1.8 m high and 3.5 m wide. Measurements for battens, wires and the air gap are in the article on building a trellis.
Pot: move the pot to the warmest corner of the house in August and September, when ripening is decided.
Varieties that ripen in a cool summer
The pollination question is settled the moment you buy a garden fig. What remains is whether the figs have time to ripen through a cool summer. All five varieties below are grown outdoors in northern Europe, so choose by where the tree will stand.
| Variety | Where to grow it | Worth knowing |
|---|---|---|
| Brown Turkey | wall or pot | Widely grown and reliable in northern European gardens. Holds the RHS Award of Garden Merit. |
| White Marseilles | wall | Hardy and dependable. Large sweet figs in pale green. |
| Brunswick | wall | A classic variety for outdoor growing in cool summers. |
| Violette de Bordeaux | wall or pot | Recommended for cool climates. |
| Little Miss Figgy | pot and balcony | Compact variety for a pot. Sweet wine red figs. |
Two crops are set, one has time to ripen
A fig tree carries fruit on two kinds of wood, and that explains almost all of the pruning. In late summer small figs form at the tips of this year's shoots. They get no bigger than a pea before winter, stay on the branch and start again in May. That is the crop that ripens here, from late August through September, on what is by then last year's wood.
The second crop is set on this year's new shoots in late spring and early summer. In a Mediterranean climate it ripens in late summer, but outdoors here it rarely finishes. Those figs stay green and hard.
At the end of summer you therefore remove every fig larger than a pea and leave the pea sized ones. The large green ones will not ripen anyway and they draw strength from the small ones. If you cut back the shoot tips at the same time, you cut off next year's crop.
Prune in two rounds
Figs are pruned on two occasions a year, both of them short jobs. The milky sap irritates skin and eyes, so wear gloves.
Late winter, February to March: take out dead, frost damaged and crossing branches while the tree is dormant. The heavier cuts belong here. Make them before the sap rises, because cut surfaces bleed for a long time in the middle of it.
Early summer, June: pinch this year's shoots back to five or six leaves. The shoots branch, light reaches in and the wood ripens before autumn.
Overwintering in a pot and in open ground
Figs drop their leaves and go into true dormancy. A tree kept in room warmth all winter pushes pale shoots in January and weakens.
Pot: bring it in once the leaves have fallen, to a garage, cellar or cold greenhouse. 5 to 10 degrees suits it, and light matters little while the tree has no leaves. Water once a month, only enough to keep the root ball from drying out completely.
Out again: after the last frost in late spring, with a week of hardening off in part shade.
Open ground: works in mild positions down to minus 10 degrees, and only with wrapping. Pack straw or leaves around the branches after leaf fall, hold it in place with netting or hessian and cover the root zone with 5 to 10 cm of leaves.
At Florea we leave the potted fig outside until the first night frost before carrying it in. Leaf fall goes faster then and the tree enters dormancy in one go.
Watering and feeding in a small soil volume
Confined roots mean the soil dries out fast. Feel the soil daily in warm spells and keep it evenly moist, especially in a pot. Drought stress in the middle of ripening gives small figs that split at the next watering.
Give liquid plant food every second week from May until the figs start to ripen. A nitrogen rich feed does the same thing as a free root run, that is leaves instead of fruit, so stay with the dose on the pack and switch to a potassium rich feed from midsummer. At the same wall you can sow basil seeds and chilli and pepper seeds, which want the same warm and sheltered spot.
Harvest and the signs of ripeness
A fig does not ripen on after picking in any way that helps you. The sugar comes from the tree, so a fig picked hard softens on the counter but does not get sweeter. Colour alone is not the answer. Go by three signs:
The stalk bends: the fig hangs slackly downwards instead of standing out from the branch.
The skin gives: it feels soft under light pressure and may crack a little.
The drop: a bead of sugary sap gathers in the eye at the end of the fig.
Pick with a piece of the stalk left on. Fresh figs keep only a few days, so go over the tree every second day through the weeks the harvest runs.
Author: Emma Vogiatzi
Fact-checked by Erik Hoekstra
Last updated 2026-09-15