I'd fire your gardeners.  Are they too lazy to take those bags of leaves to the curb on leaf collection day?  : )

Ha ha, very funny Jon. Every body wants to a comedian! Hahaha

Not this year Bob. This year, all will be naked as a jail bird! Interesting to see which trees survive. By being in zone 8, all should be fine.

Steve, I guess I should fire myself b/c I'm the gardener. Last year, I ran out of leaves and had to steal about 20 bags from my neighbors 2 streets over. They didn't mind. They had 60 bags on the curb and the city only takes 10 bags every 2 weeks. It was a pain in the but to remove all those leaves when Spring came! Glad I''m not covering them up this year.

Dennis, just curious - why not? 

Also, could you post pictures of your naked trees?  I'd love to see them!

stand by Jo-Ann

I'm curious about the experience of others with Shrubjackets.  The ones that I used last winter totally fell apart when putting them on this winter.  I still tied up the trees but I'll have to totally throw them away next spring.  I bought some new ones this year (not knowing that the others had gotten so weak) and now I'm regretting it big time.  I'm thinking of writing the company and asking for a refund.  For the price, I think they should hold up for at least 4-5 years.

@snaglpus, was this your experience as well?  I seem to remember you saying something in a previous thread.

The big question now becomes, what's an easy way to overwinter trees using leaves and some kind of tarp materials.  I was thinking about buying reflective tarps and somehow pinning them down, but that may allow for too much heat buildup.

The concept of the jacket is great but I don't think they were meant to withstand months of harsh winter and beaming rays of sunlight.  They are breatheable and the decor is nice but after one year, mine just decomposed to dust.  I ended up tossing 98% of mine. 

Now, per the US ARg, my area is considered 8a.....a warmer climate.  So this past winter, I did not winterize my trees.  And so far we've only had temps drop in the mid to low 20s twice this month.  I think these jacket are meant to only be used for one or two night of frost and that's it!  If I need to protect my trees in the future, I will just make mine out of pure burlap and shoe strings like the one above.  But you have to stuff the jacket with leaves of they will blow right off the plant.  However, they do work though.

Greetings Dennis and gang

Good posts! I have similar neighbors with lots of extra bagged leaves who just put them out for recycling. This past Fall I went around and gathered many of these bagged treasures up in anticipation of winter protection for my in ground Hardy Chicago. Once it started to stay evenly cold at night and day, I built a 2 x 4 x 8 ft tall wooden frame and wrapped it in plastic mesh netting and placed this around the gently pruned tree then filled it with leaves. ( First i heavily mulched the root bed ).

Here's one picture of the almost completed project ( i eventually covered the very top with a small blue tarp to keep rain from soaking it), one before I started filling with dry leaves, and two from early Summer when it was lush green and full of figs:

Well, it won't be long before it will be time to start planning for Fall and Winter.  Over the past 2 seasons, we've been hit hard with 25 degree temperatures in November, but the rest of the year was just blah and mild.  I don't know what the farmer's almanac says about this winter but I'm planning now.  In 2011, I bought a bunch of these shrub jackets and they worked great.  However, they only last for one year.  The sun, rain and cold just decomposed the fabric.  They did not start ripping until I removed them.  But the good news is, my trees had zero die back!  Last year, 2012, I did not use any winter protection.  Two orchard trees were hit hard but came back in full force this year.  They were Martin's Unknown and 187-25.  My Black Maderia, brown turkey not had green growth in November and it got burned, same for Noire de Caromb.  These trees are in containers and grew back fine but I learned they are very sensitive.

So, this year I'm clearing out my shed for these guys.  The jacket I made out of burlap worked great.  I think I will make 10 of these and use them this year.  I think I got 4 of these jackets leftover but I like mine better.  It lasted longer!

Would hemp fabric last longer?

Yes it would.

Ok, the fig jackets worked great 2 years ago. But they are not tough enough to last another year. Last year, I did not winterize any orchard trees. And with crappy weather this year, I only got a few figs from some of my rare trees which isn't that bad. But years ago, I had gobs and gobs of figs. We're suppose to have a harsh winter this year and it starts tonight. Temperatures will fall to 19 degrees tonight. Depending on the age of the trees, temps that low can kill a fig tree. So, this year I decided to make 2 jackets and use a new one I had saved 2 years ago. The red ones are 2 yds of burlap from walmart. I sewed the ends and after tying up the trees, I installed the jackets. The tall red one is De La Senyora. The fat red one is I-258. And the green one is Smith. The jackets are stuffed with dry leaves.

Enjoy!

HOW BOUT THOSE FIGS!!!!!!!!

Can't see any photos.  Looks like you lost your photomojo again.

Try again Bob.

You have done a great job.I have also installed a bird net over my orchard and laid some fence posts along the edge to hold it in place.

Looks great super job!
 
I wonder if rodents are turned off by the leaves?  I know if it was straw it would be a magnet for rodents.

I don't have a rodent problem.  At least not yet!  I go out daily and tap on the jackets.  Plus we have several wild cats that roam the neighborbhood.  I find them out in my orchard seeking mice.  They will jump in the jacket to get a mouse.  Those store bought jackets only worked for one season. The harse wind and bitter cold decomposed the jacket badly.  Those I made are still in tact and holding up strong.  But I do have to go back and add more leaves from time to time.

One season, I covered all 66 of my orchard trees with the green store bought jackets.  It was no fun removing all those leaves in March!  Today, I only cover 3 trees.

After the brutal cold weather last year, I am considering using some of these again this year.  But only on a few trees.

It's a real task removing and disposing all the leaves!

I just ordered three of the large size before I read in this thread that they only last for one year - oh well!  I have about 8 trees that i put in ground in April and are now 6-7 feet tall.  I would have to trim off so much wood to get them down to 3 feet high and fit into the bags.  I will minimally mount up shredded leaves > 1 ft deep around the base.  Beyond that I will need to address each tree on a case by case basis.  Some that have strong reputations for cold hardiness (like Mt. Etna types) may not get any protection besides the mulch.  Others may end up looking like "aliens".

Bob, they do work very well. BUT......like you siad, they only last for one season. I read online somewhere where this lady said, she hates them because the wind blew hers aaway! I laughed! She didn't install them right. You have to tie them first at the base of the tree, then stuff the jacket with leaves and tie the bag up.

I do lik them but the one I made out of burlap is still holding up strong!

Good Job Dennis:You are going to have a lot of brebas fruits next Summer.
Make sure you cover the trees you know will produce Breba first.

I haven't found problems with rodents, the way I am avoiding them so far is waiting for a hard freeze before covering, around -5 Celsius or so.  This encourages the rodents to find a warm home before covering.  Mounding roses is where this method was recommended for me and I just applied it to the figs.

bump.

Last year's Artic Blast of 4 degree weather still a few of these trees.  Those heavily mulched  and wrapped did best.

Dennis,
Looks good enough for me Ill take 80! lol

The year I used those jackets, I ended up with a great breba crop.  I've got 65 trees in my orchard but I did not use the bags this year.  In my climate, the bags only last one year.  It's expensive but worth it!

bump.  its time to start planning winterizing your fig trees!!!!