Knowledgebase
Is my Fig tree dead #930649
Asked May 05, 2026, 8:36 AM EDT
Anne Arundel County Maryland
Expert Response
Hello,
Unless a fig was in a very protected area, the top growth may have taken a hit in the extremes of winter weather. We hadn't had this for a while in much of Maryland so many fig trees were able to sprouted leaves earlier from branches that survived our milder past winters. This year, many have died to the ground. However, if the fig was a hardy version, it will resprout from the roots. You won't get brebas this year, the early figs that were overwintering buds on last years branches, but you might get later fruit.
You could do a scratch/scrape test to see how far you have to go before you find under bark green that survived. Otherwise, you can prune off any dead branches to encourage new growth now and wait a couple months to look for regeneration from the base. Much depends on the variety--many grow Chicago hardy or Celeste due to the winter kill issue.
You can water, give it some compost, wait and watch meanwhile.
Sue
If the branches are tan inside, they are likely dead. Often they will have a white pith in them, but see that just under the bark there should be a line of green to show they are alive.
As for starting over, in the more northern zones when we have a harsher than usual winter after some mild ones, this isn't an unusual thing to happen. Top growth gets mostly killed but there's regeneration from the base. Much also depends on the variety of fig and its' normal hardiness zones. Chicago Hardy is one often grown in zone 7. Annapolis is somewhat warmer and may not get as difficult winters as other regions of MD, so you may have more types of figs that make it through most winters without dieback. You don't have to cut everything down to start over, but it would be a good idea to look at some fig pruning.