Here at the end of summer, my fig tree looks as though it's dying.  It's lost almost all of its leaves (the ones remaining look rusty).  It's in the shade of a sequoia part of the time; does it need more light?  Also, there are a lot of roots above the surface of the ground.  Does that mean it needs more water?  See attached pics. The birds get all the figs, but I'd hate to lose the tree.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/22689341@N05/8009613467/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/22689341@N05/8009616879/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/22689341@N05/8009622906/

I don't see your pics. If roots are exposed, perhaps the tree was planted too shallow. You can correct that either by digging and replanting or mounding soil around the base of the tree. I don't see what zone you are in, it is quite possible that your tree is naturally going dormant. It is also possible that with roots exposed it is drying out constantly which is not good for the tree. Try reposting your pics and maybe someone can offer better advice. Good luck and welcome to the forum  

Cyndi,
Your images are not showing up.

Do you have gophers? They love fig roots. Have you endured a significant heat spell? Many of my trees dropped their leaves this hot summer and are just starting to flush again. Jon grows his potted trees under a canopy of bananas. Even though they prefer full sun, partial shade should not kill it. How old is the tree? Is it well established or newly planted? It could be a water issue. What part of the country are you in? Is it mulched? Are the branches supple or brittle? Lots of questions...
Sue

Cyndi,  Welcome to the forum.  I could see your photos just fine.  Redwood is shading your tree.  Are you in Northern California?

Your tree looks like it might have some rust, but it doesn't look dying to me.  Fig trees are happier in full sun.  You might be getting too much rain in that spot, and not enough sun to dry the tree out.  Maybe see if you can start a few cuttings, and plant the cuttings in the sun to extend the life of your tree.

Good luck with it!  It will probably bounce back next year just fine!

Suzi

Here's my 2 cents.  The tree has barren soil around it with (as you say) some roots exposed. It almost looks like there was soil erosion or possibly soil being packed down by foot traffic around the tree.  I would put down some compost and then put hardwood mulch over that.  You might to also put some sort of edging/short fence around the tree to keep the mulch from washing away in heavy rains and discourage foot traffic (if that is an issue).

Welcome to the forum, Cyndi!

Looks like leaf rust. The tree should be fine. Leaf rust can be a good or bad thing. Good would be if the tree went dormant early because of the rust just before a freeze. The bad thing can be when it strikes late in the growing season but not close enough to a freeze event. Then what can happen is that the tree will push out a new flush of growth and then a freeze comes before the new growth can harden.

Suzi, she's in Dacula Georgia.

I have three trees that have already 90% dropped their leaves for the year and I'm in SE Atlanta.  All of my plum trees have also dropped leaves for the year, and every hackberry tree within a block of my house is halfway defoliated.  It's just about that time of year.  Celeste seems to be the first to drop leaves this year, a couple of east-facing trees near me are also almost defoliated. 

Based on that, I suppose it's possible that your tree is dying, but I tend to think ... it's just fall, temps got cooler faster this year, and ... it's about that time.  If you're anywhere near the mountains and/or your night time temps are dropping into the 50s... it's about that time.

Nonetheless, I'd look around your yard for signs of gophers and make sure there are no finger-sized bore marks in your tree to rule out the two biggies.

Leaf would indicate a possible lack of water. That could be from under irrigation, or something that is inhibiting the uptake of water, such as root loss to gophers, etc.

It is getting on toward fall, and trees might well be dropping leaves due to the season, changes in weather, etc.

Scratch the bark near the tip of a branch. If it is green underneath the bark, the tree is quite alive.

Thanks for all your replies and advice.  I'm in a Northeast suburb of Atlanta, and the temps haven't yet fallen very far.  The tree (planted in a bad location originally by my Dad who had beginning Alzheimer's -- I couldn't bear to undo his work, and I had no idea it would get as big as it did) is toward the end of a slope in the yard where it runs into a creek.  The sequoia is the only thing between it and the creek, which is about 20 feet away.  There has definitely been soil erosion due to run-off from the yard, but I hadn't noticed it until this.  The soil is pure Georgia clay, unfortunately.  I can't move the tree because it's too large, so maybe the only thing to do is build up the soil around the tree & put in a small stone wall to protect it so that it can't wash away.  My only fear there is that the water will stand when there's a hard rain because of the clay.  With the roots so shallow, how close to the tree do I dare dig out soil to amend it?  And what does a fig need in the way of soil amended from clay?  Thanks!

I wouldn't dig, just put the rock wall you talked abou8t, and fill it with compost, dead leaves, and the like and let it slowly build up a rich layer, and let the leach into the soil.

What did it go last year? Did you try a fertilizer that didn't work?  Did the Ph change? Lots of possibilities but I tend to agree with Jason.

Our trees are behaving differently this year than last year.  Last year was a severe drought and this year was much, much better, rain wise.  Do the trees now think that normal rain is too much because of the drought last year.  One thing I am seeing right now is all the Celeste are in a premature leaf drop mode, 2 weeks or so earlier than last year.

I'll go against the flow on this one.  I say dig, but don't amend the hole.  You can divide a circle around your tree into quadrants.  While the tree is dormant this winter, dig one quadrant starting about 8-12" from the center out.  Dig as deep as you can and try to break up the hard soil / clay. Cover the area you dig with a thick layer of mulch.  Don't worry about cutting roots, they will begin to reestablish themselves before you dig the next quadrant.

There appears to be some damage to a node at about 1:30 in your first picture.  I would check to see what it is and if it is evidence of a more wide spread problem with your tree.

Also, unless there is an aesthetic reason for keeping them, you might want to remove some (all) of the suckers from around the base.  If you want to propagate the tree, dig the suckers out then put them in a container with some growing mix.  The more roots you take with them the better.  Even if don't get much, it will be enough to get the suckers going while dormant. 

~james

For the mulch, get composted cotton burrs.  Does a great job breaking up clay.

James - would you do 1/4 per year over 4 years?

I get it at the local nursery, I am going there tomorrow and I will check on the name and where it comes from.  It looks like compost, smells like compost (if I remember right!) and comes in a 40lb bag.  I'll get more info on it.

Jo-Ann,

I'm not sure there is any merit in extending the process.  The tree will be a bit slow to break dormancy next year, but should catch up and surpass what it would otherwise do rather quickly. 

If you are worried about taking out too many of the roots at one time, you could divy up the pie into sixths and do one section a month between now and February.

Alternatively, you could start digging a section at the outer boundary of where you expect your mulch ring to be.  Dig a channel at the perimeter then, working towards the trunk of the tree, use a digging fork to work the soil lose exposing the roots as you move in.  You will lose many roots in the process, but the larger ones will remain intact.  Once you have loosened all the soil from around the roots, you can move them out of the way and dig down.  Then lay the roots back in and cover with the loosened soil and mulch.  If you choose this route, make sure you periodically wet down the exposed roots.

Wouldn't it be easier (aside from the emotional attachment regarding this particular tree)  to dig it up when it is dormant, prepare the hole correctly then replant it?
Or do you think a tree this size would be too difficult for the home grower to handle correctly?

If one wants to move a tree, then "yes".  If not, probably not.  I've taken a medium size (about 11 years old at the time) out of the ground before.  I used the last method I wrote about.  It was a pain in the butt.  While most of the roots will be in the top 8-12" of soil, inevitably, there will be a few roots that grow downward.  Either one would need heavy machinery to sever all of the roots below the tree then to pick it up out of the hole, or one would need to bare-root the tree in situ.

The nice thing about digging sections is you're not committed to too much. If you start to dig and you get tired, bored, lose steam, break a shovel, step in a fire any mound, etc.  You can fill in what you've dug, then start again there in a few days.

Here are a few pics of the prep I did to remove a tree from the ground.

Cindy what variety is your tree. Looks fine to me. This is time of year when some variety will drop there leaves before others. Celeste is first to drop leaves for me and i am in Lawrenceville Ga.

I don't know what variety it is. When my Dad lived with us, he would just bring home plants or trees and place them randomly in the yard even though we'd worked a lot on landscaping.  I will try the quadrant method after building a small rock wall on the downside of the slope.  Whether it's just dropping leaves early or it has a more severe problem, adding soil and compost should do it a lot of good.  Now . . . anyone know how to keep the birds from eating all the figs?