I only had one in ground tree, and it died this winter. I had been planning to plant a few more trees in the yard once they got big enough, but I'm thinking no at this point.

Matt, regardless if the trees made it through this past Winter, the problem i see is that in-ground trees that I have are WAY behind all of my potted trees that were stored inside a cold room, but now flourishing outside. Last year this time I was thinking to plant a lot more inground, now I'm thinking pots are the way to stay. Plus, at least in my case, it's a lot of work in Fall to build cages and fill with leaves, mulch, wrap, etc. hauling in trees is a lot easier and faster.

I had plans to put a few trees in ground but after seeing how many were lost by others this year I think I'll stick to 20 gallon pots

Many of my older trees which were intended for the ground are now staying in containers. I will be planting cuttings out from now on. 

Matt,
Yes.
This past winter was an "exception" and most protected and older plants survived and are now regrowing. With a little planning, prudent pruning and simple winterization the main scaffold branches of hardier cultivars can survive extreme conditions. The lessons learned from this past winter have actually strengthened my plans for an in-ground orchard in my Zone 5B/6A location.

BTW, in ground trees that were only protected with a very thick Pine Shaving Mulch had no die back below the mulch surface.

I agree with Pete. A winter like this has not happend in twenty years. And we don't want to deal with wrapping and winterization, it is a pain. But even in this kind of winter, if you take measures, most trees can survive, albeit with heavy or not so heavy dieback. I only have 3 in ground so maybe its not so bad for me, I wouldn't necessarily have a huge orchard in ground but overall, while there is some risk, with proper protection and choice of cold hardy varieties, growers should not bail on in ground cultivation.

i'll have 6 inground trees this year. those big pots are too heavy for me.
plus, i prefer the higher yields from inground trees.

of course, i spent a fortune making a micro climate to allow this.

Hi,
The choice is yours of course.
I had the same issue in 2012. My choices were more radical : plant apricots in the place of the dead figtrees.
Well, Apricots are a pain as well especially when it comes to keep fruits on the branches until ripening.
Not all of my figtrees died, and my "unknown from the Italian ufti" figtree number 2 (ufti number 1 died) grew fast so that in September 2012 I could make 4 trees out of her - she is grown in a bushy still .
Figtrees are cheap when compared to other trees. And last year I had a nice crop, so I bought some more figtrees to test those.
The path I'm walking, is to protect them efficiently and painlessly during the winter.
See my topic on winter protections for ideas.
Keeping the tree in ground is less pain for me (Watering enough but not too much + no shed for them) ! So I'll stick to that .

Buried pots is also an option.

I think I won't plant my older, larger trees.  Rather I'll keep them in large pots and plant smaller, extra trees in ground.  Nothing to lose that way.  I agree that even the trees that survived outside are way behind the potted plants and may not ripen fruit this year.  But it was an exceptional winter.  Last year was the opposite.

I have had in-ground trees for many years and have taken a few lumps with some winters.   

After last year I will only plant the proven winter survivors.   Making sure to keep them a manageable size and to protect them well for winter.

Also will make sure to provide better protection and a heat source for the figs stored in the garage.

I put in two more trees, will have to dig out a 5 inch stump with a 18 gallon root mass and plant another one, if one dies another will always go into it's place.

Sounds like a lot of work Chivas.   How close to a building are they?
If you have a tractor you could dig around the trees and then put a chain around the trunk and trying to pull them out 1 at a time.

Just the one I have to pull out, I only had 2 die in ground on me, 1 wasn't protected MBVS (I didn't like the flavour much)  the other was colisanti dark, I took the pick axe around the main roots earlier on and found a ton of ants so the shovel, pick axe and the hachet should make short work of it, if it takes more than 15 mins I would be surprised.  It's close to my shed in the backyard so tractor is a no go but a back ho would be a lot more fun.  Way easier than juniper or mulberry stumps at least.

Has anyone in zone 5,6 or 7 planted their young trees deeper than normal?

My plan for next year is to repot several 5 gal plants into 20 gallon pots and bury my doubles that are in 5 gallon pots in the ground. In the fall I'll lift them and move them to the garage.
At some point I may do a 20x20 hoop house that I can take down and put up each year.