I'll apologize in advance because this may be a long one.

Last fall (2015) I helped (it was my intention anyway) a friend clear the area in and around her fig tree growing in a bush style.  She likes things neat and tidy and she had mentioned before how she cuts back the stems and throws them away.  I offered to help clean out the yard in exchange for some of the wood to try and root with the promise that if it worked I'd give her some plants the following spring.  I did confirm with her that she wanted everything cut back.  There were a lot of hollowed out stalks that were truly dead, but there were, of course, stalks from the current year with growth on them.  This was in November, or maybe even later, but definitely after a frost and the leaves were crunchy.  I took out the dead stalks and cut the current year stalks back to a foot off the ground and some near the fence taller than that.  She usually does nothing at all, no pruning or winter protection, and the plant has returned for more than 20 years it's my understanding.  Now that I think about it, she must have done whatever clearing out she did in the spring.

Just as a little more background she's offered me a piece of her plant to try to root over the last three years now.  Early 2015 I had gone over and cut some canes to try to root.  I realized later that I was trying to root dead wood.  On May 25, 2015 (that's the date on my label) she told me that the tree was growing and if I came right away she knew I'd be able to get these to work.  I chose three small growths and two of them rooted. 

I've read and read about fig care and it was/is my understanding that the tree is only hardy to 20 degrees.  Below that temperature with no protection the top will likely die out, but the plant will\may regrow from the roots. 

Jump to late April of 2016.  I've kept her informed that her cuttings have rooted and I'll have plenty of plants for her to give to friends or replant or do whatever she pleases with, but she doesn't want to take them yet.  She told me that she thinks her plant is dead.  Of course I don't want to believe that figuring it's just too cold outside for the plant to have started growing yet.  I finally got a chance to go and look at the plant myself recently.  Some of the bark is obviously dead, but the fat 2-inch bark/root, not sure which, horizontal growth on the ground is green when you scratch it.  When I looked carefully, I do see just a few places where new shoots are coming off the branch.

I took a picture, but can't get it off my camera.  It looks like there were two plants that had spread into a 4x10 patch.  She doesn't know what variety of fig it is.  Our weather has been unseasonably cold.   We're expecting three days of overnights in the 40s next week.  In April we had a couple days up into the 70s.  Generally for the last month or so we've had 50-60 daytime temps and 40-50 nighttime temps.  And over the winter in addition to our typical cold Chicago temperatures we had at least two days that hit -20.

Initially I wanted to wait and see what will happen with the plant, but with the weather still predicted to be so cold I'd just like to reach out and get some opinions.  Do I need to be worried that I killed her plant?  Any thoughts would be greatly appreciated.

wait

If there is green, there is life. It will come back from that point. Don't worry too much, figs are tough.

Hi,

When does the tree normally start to grow ?
It might be too soon.
If you got -20°F ... You're not responsible for that ...
If rodents did some score on the trees ... You're not responsible for that.

But, bottom line, lesson learned : never trim the tree of someone else . Just take some cuttings for you to root.

BUT until July, it is NOT too late for the tree to make new buds and send new root-shoots.
Just keep the area cleaned, so that weeds don't crowd or shade the new shoots and that slugs don't develop there and eat all new growth.

I feel for you. It is an embarrassing situation... Don't loose the ones you rooted and keep one or two for her, just in case .

This makes me feel a little better.  Yes, it is extremely embarrassing.  I just talked to her and read her your responses.  She sounds less worried than I am, but I know how I'd feel if it happened to me, even if it was unintentional.  I called myself saving her a few bucks and getting a winter project for myself.  Lesson well learned.

I'm not sure when the tree/bush usually starts growing, but I've also reached out to somebody at a community garden here in Chicago who had the only other in-ground fig tree I've ever seen to see what the status of their tree is, if it's even still there.

I went a little bit crazy with the turning a stick into a plant thing, so she'll get a lot more than one or two plants back.  That will hopefully be some consolation just in case.

Thank you for your quick responses.

You said you saw some new shoots coming up from the base.  If that is true then it definitely is not dead!  The only question is how much of the main branches is dead and how much is alive.  When figs come back from cold damage it is almost always the case that the first growth you see is from small shoots at the base as you describe.  The older wood (if viable) puts out green buds and shoots later.  You will have to wait to find out if this happens for your friend's tree.

Hi, Cheryl:

I did the same thing a friend's hanging plant once.  She asked me if I could trim it for her and I was trying to help.  Apparently, her idea of "trim" wasn't the same as mine.  The good thing was that it came back beautifully and, it looked 100 times better than it did before.  She called me and said she was so happy that her plant looked alive again and that it had so many blooms. 

LESSON:  Be careful!  I would never do this again!  I am soooo thankful her plant didn't die. 

Don't worry, sometimes mistakes turn out great!  Either way, it's a good lesson to keep in mind.I think the fig you trimmed will come back.  Figs are hardy trees.

I guess waiting is what we'll have to do.  I did look at one of my pictures and I see that I started some of the cuttings on the 27th of November, 2015.  If memory serves I kept the cuttings in the fridge for two weeks before I couldn't resist the temptation to try starting a few, so that means I cut her plant back in early November, possibly late October, which means it should have been dormant before the pruning.

"Apparently, her idea of "trim" wasn't the same as mine."  I just had a mental picture of somebody going to get their hair cut asking for a little trim and then seeing all of their hair on the floor after the beautician/barber was done with them   ;-)    
I hope I have as much good luck as you did.

Thanks

Update:
We've had heat and rain this past week.  The plant is putting out some new growth.  Looks like all will be well with the plant.

Good to know, my figs kept in containers in the garage for winter are completely leafed out. That tree did take a long time to show life. I'm in the same zone except more north! So that is surprising. I guess a symptom of winter damage. I pruned mine about the same time, btw. It didn't seem to hurt them in any way.

Update on Momma Fig.  I got a chance to stop by today.  She's well on her way.
 
 
Of course no fruit to show for it, but if you had to guess between common figs that grow back from freezing such as maybe Hardy Chicago, Celeste, Black Jack, Brown Turkey and maybe Black Mission, are there any that this definitely would not be?  I would really like to put a name to this other than Cheryl's Pearls (my name and the tree owner's name).
Here's one of the cuttings with a couple little figs on it.
 

Thanks!