Hi all,
New here...

So...here is my story.  I got a nice fig from a friend last fall.  He had it all potted and well maintained.  It is a nice tree, about 4' tall...has had fruit on it in the past.  It is pretty young though.  I live in upstate NY near the PA border, so I stored the tree in my garage for the winter.  I stored it near the front (closer to the inside wall).  About a month ago, maybe more...the tree started pushing buds and a even few leaves at the bottom.  The weather was nice, sunny and warm so I put the tree outside to get some sun.  Bad idea...I know that now.  The buds and leaves dried out...and the tree is not pushing any new growth.  I am not sure what to do...I don't think the tree is dead, but what can I do to help it push new growth?  Did I ruin it for the season?  If so...I am super bummed. 

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you,
Frank

The tree should be fine.  It may take a little bit for it to start growing again, but don't ditch it until you go through the whole summer without any activity.  Just keep it moderately watered meanwhile.

Ok, thank you.  So...I have a few more questions. 

Should I keep it in the garage now so it can stay warm?  I had been leaving it outside and just bringing it in when I knew it might frost.  If outside, keep in the shade or the sun?

Do I just leave the dried out buds or should I pluck them off? 

Should I throw a little fertilizer on it?

Thanks!

If the temps are above 50°F at night,  I would leave it outside.  If you're in the mid-40s, it would still be ok, but may slow down the 'wake up' period even further.  If it's not a big deal hauling it in and out of the garage, you can do that until the temps are consistently above 50 at night.
Keep it in full sun.  I would leave the dried buds on unless they come off easily.  As the new growth appears, you may remove any dried areas that might be in the way.
I wouldn't fertilize until you see new growth.  Good luck, and welcome to the forum!

Thanks so much. It is strange...I have been keeping it outside for over a month, as I said. We had some really warm weather today and I left it in the garage. Today, I came home and noticed on the branches, it is starting to push some growth. Right now, it is very tiny...but it is coming is several spots. I am afraid to stick it back in the full sun now...should I let it push a few days and then start moving out out slowly?

Once you decide to put it outside, I would Recomend to stop moving it.
I believe that moving it back and forth could do more harm than good. That's just my opinion.
Remember that some varieties are more hardy than others. But 50 degrees is a safe bet.

Today it is cooler, and rainy (55-65)...so I put it outside when I left for work.  This weekend however, it is going to be cold.  On Saturday and Sunday nights it is going to be mid 30's...so I will be bringing it back in I guess.  Unless you recommend leaving it out, with a blanket over it...thoughts?

All my figs stay outside unprotected during the winter. On some cold days, It gets down to the high teens at night but climbs back quickly to the 30's/40's during the day.
Never had any freeze damage especially with the ones that were next to a wall. The low temperature will only slow down their growth and extend their breaking out period.
These are sitting along an Eastern wall. In your area I would go with a south facing wall for full sun.
The first image is of 5 gallon pots
The second is of Walmart SIP's

So, what you are saying is I am babying my tree??  :)

I guess my hope is that I can boost the breaking out, so there might be a chance for some fruit this summer.  I can easily put the plant on the south side of my house, but that is where I had it when it initially got burned.  So...that is why I am super gun-shy right now...

I would say don't let it break bud in the garage, probably why it dried out the first time. Breaking bud with no light is not good. I would slowly expose it to more sun, next year get it out before it breaks bud. Temps are not that important. We are still in the mid 40's at night and mine are all leafed out. Growing well. I would bring them in for this weekend, but out during the day. After Sunday night I would leave them out. I'm leaving mine out but mine are used to be outside and used to full sun. They like full sun once used to it. When you first bring them out of the garage I don't really acclimate them as they have no leaves, and have not had a problem. I just put them out in full sun. But the sun is at a lower angle when I bring them out, so not like it's really full sun. I also don't worry about possible freezing temps when dormant and outside. If above 25F they should be fine when you first bring them out. I'm still fairly new to figs and may modify this with experience. In the garage during the winter it certainly becomes cold, but I try to keep it above 21F. I had no dieback this year.

I had a tree for a few years before this, but never really knew what to do with it.  I would bring it out in the summer and bring it in in the winter...usually I would keep it in the back of the garage near the house.  It would get crazy growth before I could safely get it outside.  There is a window by where I was keeping it, so it would get pretty good light.  I never got fruit though, but I never really gave it any food and I wasn't very good about watering it.  I have learned a little more since that time.  Anyway...last year (2015), I kept it back by the door for some reason, mostly because it was just convenient - dumb.  Well, we had a heck of a winter, it was super cold and it died on me.  So...I had nothing last summer. 

This new tree was given to me at the end of the season last year...so, I just want to make sure I do it right this time, and obviously I screwed that up already by bringing it out too soon.  It seems the trick is, either get it out before the buds appear (which is hard timing wise - because you never know when that is going to happen), or let it get fully leafed out and then bring it out slowly.  Does this sound right?

Frank, if I say the wrong thing and something happens to your tree, then I will be liable:)
I will tell you that I have some four year old fig trees that still did not produce. Some will be producing for the first time this year.
Someone gave me a tree a while back and told me that it will take a long time before it produces, but once it starts you will be amazed.
I would give my tree between 5 and 7 years before I judge it.
This year, I root pruned also while my trees were dormant. I took out 1/3 of the root ball and crossed my fingers. They all came back much happier than last year.
In this hobby there will be some losses. I consider this part of the game. Having a couple of different varieties might help.

SAS,
No way would I hold anyone responsible for my incompetence!  I promise I will not use my voodoo dolls to make your life miserable ;)

Anyway....here is an update.  There are now substantial buds pushing through the branches of the tree...it is quite amazing to me.  It appears the tree lost the terminal buds (I am assuming that is what they were - at the end of all of the branches - can you tell I am a super novice??) and it is forcing growth through other spots.  This weekend it was pretty miserable here in Upstate, NY.  Saturday night it was supposed to get in the mid 30's so, I brought the tree into the garage again (it did get down to about 34F).  Yesterday it was a cold windy day...so I left it in the garage and then last night it was down to about 31F.  Because it was still pretty cold this morning, and I had to leave for work by 6:30, I left it in there today as well, it was still in the low 30's when I left.  My plan is to bring it outside and leave it outside starting tomorrow morning.  It looks like we are going to be in the 60's/70's during the day and 40's at night. 

My wife and daughter are flying back from buffalo today and told me that they had snow In the area yesterday or the day before so don't listen to anything I say, I'm living in a different world. I don't even recall if it froze or not over here this year. We had a very mild winter.

There's nothing wrong with moving it in and out depending on the weather.  Many do that.  Everyone with just a few figs in areas that get cold does that.  Keep doing it  :)   Keep it moist but not overly wet and fertilize it using houseplant strength fertilizer once it's outside during daylight hours every day.  For fastest recovery don't let it see temps under 55 or so but have it outside as much as possible.  When inside keep it in as much sun as you can.  If you don't the growth will get lanky and weak.

Putting your zone and approximate location in your sig like Sas has will always help you get better answers to your question.

Yes Sas, it was a very strange weekend here.  Saturday was nice, mid 60's, then on Sunday it was windy and cold.  We did have some snow flying as well...but it was weird, because it was like 40F+ out.

racntor - you said "Keep it moist but not overly wet and fertilize it using houseplant strength fertilizer once it's outside during daylight hours every day."  Just to be clear, you are saying once I am comfortable leaving it outside for good, hit it with some fertilizer (once)  and keep it moist.  Thanks for the input!

You can fertilize it if you're bringing it in at night as long as it gets direct sun outside every day.  The worst thing you can do is fertilize it so it grows fast then leave it inside during the day where that growth will be weak and lanky.  Depending on how big your leaves are you may have to acclimate them slowly to the sunlight.

I don't have any leaves yet...just some promising buds.