Hi Folks,
I'm a recent subscriber who's been keeping his eye out for a Fig tree candidate for my backyard.  I have an opportunity to pick up a Fig tree from someone that describes it as growing 2 stories high.  My question is.  Can this be transplanted ? What time of year would be best ?  If this person decides it must go right now will digging it out in the middle of July kill it ? If I can I want to wait until the fall, prune it back super hard (How hard can I prune it?)  How deep and what size radius should I allow for the roots when it's a 2 story high tree ?
thanks for any advice anyone has on this.

Welcome to the forum!

I guess the bigger question here is ... what is the trunk diameter of this tree? 

It is my opinion that for anything larger than 6"-8" in diameter, you need to use a piece of heavy machinery called a TREE SPADE (click that link for images) to properly remove, then burlap bag, then transplant the tree.

I would find out what variety it is.  If it's an undesirable variety like Brown Turkey, I wouldn't bother with it.

To me anything that is taller than 6 to 8 ft is not worth the trouble unless it is a rare variety.

I disagree and would say the best time is late fall.  Due to lack of top growth, the tree has the end of fall, all winter and early spring to establish roots.  When nothing is going on above the soil, energy is redirected to what's going on below the soil.

Yeah you think so? 

Autumn/Fall is (last I checked) what the Arbor Day Foundation recommends for planting. 

I understand it could be naive to trust one organization with it ... but here in the southeast, I have had a lot more losses planting in the spring than the fall.  Being as far north as you are, I could understand how your trees wouldn't be overwhelmed by the sudden onset of summer-like temps if planted in the spring.  The stress of the heat we take on early in the season down here is enough to quickly kill a plant that hasn't had a chance to establish a good root system yet.

I agree Jason, Fall allows the tree to concentrate on roots and seems less stressful on the plant. Early spring is good though and should produce success as well.  

If you do decide to do it this fall then mulch really well and wide from the tree this winter to keep the root system from freezing into a block of ice in the planting hole... If you are living in a colder zone.

Which brings us back to bits and pieces from posts two and three.

Unless it is a rare fig then why bother with it?

But if you insist on having it then I will plant it now or fall or spring.That's just me. There will be stress or shock and loss. The tree will bounce right back. If you cut it down to a manageable size with a big enough root ball then it will be fine.

But the hard part is moving it first.

Where do you live?

Welcome to the forum BTW.

Jpm1.
I have to admit I have never dug up and moved a large fig tree.
The trees I've dug up in the woods and brought home were idealy done in stages. Trying to build and preserve as much roots in as little space as possible.
Dig a third of the way around the root ball you are keeping , another third this fall then finnish the digging and transplant next spring. 
I have, on  a have to basis done it all in one day. Sometimes it worked but mostly didn't. Talking about wild trees here not planted fruit trees. But the general strategy is the same.
I moved a 20+ft Japanese Maple from town to my place using a 1/2 day rented UHaul. I've used open trailors ,at night after soaking the foliage. Expect leaf loss.
If you have unlimited time make an air layer of the top half  then move it this fall and the bottem in the spring or whenever suits you.
If it's a rare or very disireable tree be sure to save the cuttings.((;
Just some ideas.
Good Luck
Dave.

Thanks for all the advice and suggestions. The person that's allowing me to dig out the fig tree was kind enough to send me a few pictures.  I have not seen this tree in person yet myself. One thing I notice in the picture is the tree appears to be in a raised bed. Would this make the job a little easier ? I'd like to prune the tree back as hard as possible but I'm not sure where the limit is.  I'm attaching the 4 pics please offer your comments, suggestions and advice. She doesn't know what kind of tree it is nor to I. Any thoughts or guesses based on these pics ?
thanks
Joe

Joe ,
i have no advice but this.
Be careful with those wires that are overhead that tree.
Don't forget they are there in the excitement when you start .   ; )

Might as well throw my 2 cents in before I run out of cents....

1 - verify what type of fig it is... why bother going through all the work if it is not worth the effort? Get clear pictures of fruit and leaves and post them for ID help from F4F.

2 - after decided that it's a "keeper", make some air layers and take and pot up some cuttings for "insurance", plus send some cuttings to your friends at F4F... for additional insurance. You should have enough time to root the air layers and pot them up before summer ends. Plenty info available here on air layering tree branches and potting green cuttings.

3 - Given those wires above, I would not touch it until all foliage has dropped and all is clearly visible, at that point, carefully cut/remove any branch near or above wires. If those are electrical wires, I would ask power company to come and trim tree. No fig tree is worth getting electrocuted.

4 - Once tree is bare and dormant, (this could in late fall or winter) and branches are trimmed, I would start to separate raised bed roots from ground by cutting flush with ground, looks like you should have enough roots within raised bed to support a trimmed dormant tree without problem.
Get additional help in the way of extra hands,a wheelbarrow, and a pickup truck.

5 - relocate tree and plant in a sunny spot, well drained in an area enriched with some good organic material.

6 - water one time when planting tree and stake it for support and stability,

7 - from this point on, keep water to an absolute minimum, my mantra is
no leaves = minimal or no water is needed,

8 - document the whole process with lots of pictures and notes, and it should be posted in the FAQ section  for posterity and to give other members some insight into what is involved in relocating a large tree.

9 - Once leaves flush out in spring resume normal growing season care.

My thoughts, please disagree with me, if you wait until it's dormant, then chop back the big branches, then you could avoid a lot of big  branches.  Then when you up root it it isn't too bad for plant size and you could still have a lot of growth the next year either planting it in a pot or ball and burlap it for winter storage until you can plant it.

Thanks for all your suggestions folks. Ben, I'll basically be going in grabbing it and getting out. I don't know these folks they just offered it to who ever could use it. I just happened to be in the right place at the right time so I wont be able to air layer it at least not until it's in my backyard. I asked if she could send me pics of the leaves and fruit, if so I'll forward them on to here.  Would it be safe to assume that who ever built it up in a raised bed in their back yard probably picked a variety that would be worth transplanting ? I have no clue, I'm new to figs.. my thoughts are how nice it would be to go from no figs to a full size tree with bountiful fruit in one season right in my back yard.
thanks,
Joe

If those wires are the electric lines, usually the electric company come and take the lines down till tree is removed or trimmed, then they will re-install the lines. They do it for free but you have to call them.

If the tree is BETWEEN 2 utility poles they will cut it down/trim it for free. But if the line comes from the utility pole to your house (not pole to pole), it's the owner's responsibility to trim or cut the tree, not the electric company.

Had to call them last year to come and take the lines down when a professional company was going to cut down two 70+ feet tall Oak trees at my property.

Would it be safe to wait until the tree is dormant and cut the branches down to just below the level of the wires? Also with it being a raised bed I'm hoping I can take a long shale bar, the kind  with a flat blade like end and pound it across the bottom from one side to the other in many places until the ball is loose enough to break it free. Then figure out a way to drag it unto a peace of plywood under some furniture dollies or something and ramp it up onto the back of my pick up truck.  The drive home will be about 30 minutes but all highway miles.
thanks
Joe

Wait till it goes dormant. To make your job easier, just rent a Backhoe with long forks or one with a EMG tilting buckets (40+ inches size).

After you removed the tree (with the roots and soil), use the backhoe to lift it and place it on top of a wooden pallet then load it onto your truck.

Doing it this way will decrease lots of labor and time waste on your behalf.

Navid


P.S. You could also rent a Uhaul for its transportation if you think it would be too big for your truck to handle. After all, you don't want to pay several hundreds of dollars for some new struts.

jpm1
Those wires look like insulated service wires to the home (neutral and 120v) all you have to worry about is NOT pulling them down.  Touching them with the tree limbs is ok.
You can still contact the power co. though if you're worried.
Luck.
Dave.

It is Celeste.
Edit Note:Good catch Jason:It is not Celeste,I did not notice the fruits on it.

@Herman, those figs look at least 50% too large for Celeste to me.

@JPM, you can pretty much cut that fig tree down to the ground and it will come back next year.  Seriously.  Figs are weeds.  I hate to say anything that produces something so tasty is a "weed", but really.... Fig trees will easily return from the roots without any issues.

"Weed" is just a plant whose virtues we have not yet discovered.
I sure like these figweeds.((:

Looking at the jpg pics, i have this tree. how do i find out the actual name of the tree? My tree is at least 35 yrs old, gigantic! Last year I gave it the first crew cut of it's life. My dad thought I'd killed it. Well, tell you what this tree has come back 5 to 8 times bigger/fuller. for every big branch that I cut there is at least 5 to 10 branches to replace it. Those branches are already about 4 to 9 ft tall and 3/4 have already beared great fruit this summer. I'm gong to try and propogate a few cuttings.

Danny ,
according to profile information "jpm" last post was over 2 years ago and may not be active here anymore.
Sometimes folks come and go for reasons unknown.

Dieseler,

Thanks.  Didn't see that.  Feel stupid.  Removing the post.