I wanted to an ideas I had for creating in-ground microclimates for those of us not blessed with ideal fig growing conditions and see if anyone else has any other ideas/experiences.

The goal is to make it easier to grow in-ground in northern areas (Zone 6b here) with less winter protection. I'm all about less work, even if it's a bit more labor when planning and planting. Like they say, put a $10 tree into a $100 hole.

My main idea for planting this coming year is borrowed from permaculture, namely Sepp Holzer's claim to grow citrus in the Alps using large rocks to create microclimates (I haven't seen any actual proof...I think he makes his money telling people how he does it). My plan is create rock "wells" about a foot or two in height/thickness and 2-3' in diameter around each fig, with the highest part on the northeast side to catch the afternoon sun. In theory the thermal storage form the stones will be like planting against a house, meaning less winter protection is needed. The wells will also be easy to fill with straw/leaves/etc for winterizing, especially young figs. The rocks should also help extend the season by keeping the days heat through the night, hopefully helping extend the season.

If it weren't under a half foot of snow, I'd take a picture of one I made last year. Hopefully the lonely, little Brown Turkey will have survived the 0 degree nights of the polar vortex after I did absolutely nothing to winterize. If not, guess I'll start from scratch.

Does anyone else have tricks for pushing your zone?

i think one of the member, suzie, is trying to create micro zone but not against cold, but harsh summer.. i think. i just put all my trees in garage. 

my understanding is that actual temperature is not the main factor. adding wind to cold temps is what kills trees.

therefore, i have built a 6' high wooden fence to shelter trees from both drying summer winds and cold north winds which often occurs when the temps drop to zero.

in theory, this should push my zone 6a close to 7. 

how about keeping 50 gal drum filled with water? water retain good amount of heat. tho.. i don't think neighbors will enjoy looking at random 50 gal drum around the area. 

I would also try to warm the ground. Personally, I have asphalt shingles laid around the base of my trees, beyond the mulch. The idea is that the black color will help warm the roots, and the shingle will help hold it in. They are not beautiful, but they are not too unsightly either. This is the first year to try this on figs, but I'll let everyone know.

So the fig is in the "well," right?  Or you are basically putting a stone wall around each fig.  A picture is always worth a thousand words, but I think I understand now.

Funny thing is, we took out a liquidamber tree  aka sweet gum.  It made a huge hole in the ground about 4' deep, and in that spot, hubby planted a fig.  I went out to check and was horrified that he had left about a foot of soil surrounding it.  It was planted in a REAL well!  YIKES!!  If it ever rains again, that fig will be swimming in a pool of water, and needless to say, it now proudly sits at ground level with a trench to help drain excessive water.  It has a drip system which never accumulates enough water to run off, but serious rain needs an escape.

Informative thread!

Suzi

i've read that rocks or anything that will function as a heat sink and be helpful in moderating temp swings.therefore, if you add rocks to a wind barrier  or
make the rock wall high enou to stop winds. you should be able to grow figs that can't grow there.

thing is, my reading indicates that the heat sink won't work without eliminating wind. doing both is optimal, but eliminating wind comes first.

a rock wall 6' high would be ideal, but thats an awful lot of work. just the wood fence cost me 100s of hours of work.

your wells should keep roots alive. i don't understand how they would prevent die back above the height of the rocks, but for your sake, i sure hope  they do.

good luck !

Thomas Jefferson created his "winding wall" (i think it was called) in VA to creat microclimes and grew figs there.  THis was a curvy wall facing south creating little alcoves for the trees.

Just make certain your well is not the lowest point in the yard, as cool air flows like water to the low areas.  Having an opening for cool air "runoff" and having the well on a relative high point in the yard should also help.

I have seen in ground swimming pools where the apron surrounding the pool has been turned into a 'solar radiator' to heat pool water during winters. What they did was to run the pipes in a geometric pattern and instead of covering them with with dirt and concrete or rock like the rest of the apron, tiled over them using a dark green or brown glass tile. Sun shines through the glass and heats up the circulating water in the pipes below the glass tiles.

Could a similar concept be used around fig trees to provide a way to harvest solar heat during the winter months if a trench was filled a layer of gravel  leaving a few inches of air space and covered with covered with a dark glass surface (or glass backed by dark plastic?) to provide a way to keep air and ground temps in a more temperate range? Might have to be covered with mulch or chips during the warmest months to keep from frying roots. Most probably urban neighbors would not have a problem with something that looked like a decorative edging around the trees. 

Ampersand, I like your idea.  I often thought about building a rock wall and growing the fig trees against it.  I think the protection from the wind is the primary, and the radiating heat +10 degrees F is a good secondary.  As the fig trees grow, it might be cool to brace a wooden frame against the NW wind side and even mulch the "hole" and upper portion with the wood frame.  I like the plan, let me know how it turns out.

Hello Ampersand, you have the right idea through this Micro-Climate creating guy. here's an idea to make it even easier. You don't have to create the well, just build a quarter round wall blocking your N.E. winds and the sun warmth from South West will keep the trees much happier and fruitful. the fruits will ripen faster and overall survival of the trees will increase. You can use broken Cement from Craigslist for free and patch them with mud. I used it for creating elevated beds in my backyard, it dies look pretty too. You can feel the bed with hey and dry leaves to give extra warmth and protection in winter.

Rock well may work for summer, but in the winter, they are actually very cold.  There has to be a combination of blocking the wind and shelter too much of the ice and snow.

I live in Seattle, where we do get some snow and it is cold most of the time, and it rains a lot.  my 23 y.old tree was planted between 2 houses, it got a lot of shade of the South house, but as it grew taller its branches get more sun light. I am convinced it is the fence and the 2 houses that create the wind barrier.  So, you have to adjust. Growing poplers to block the wind can be an alternative.  and consider building a large cage for wind protection and chose varieties already known to have grown in your area.  they already did the testing for you.  What I am doing is I grafted several new varieties onto local known growers... I shall report what happens when i put them in the soil... my black madeira is too young to consider a good one, but i am surprised to know it survived the first winter out there in the ground.. and it is only a few inches tall.  as it was totally under the shade of the other big tree and the houses, where the most it got was a few hours of sun light during the summer. please do report your findings.

Probably some good microclimate ideas to be found on this fig tour:
"My Fig-Thieving Ways" by Emily Horton

With the growing season in full swing and some fresh figs planted, I thought I would update what I've been doing to create some microclimates to help get things through zone 6 winters with minimal dieback and protection.

All the rock walls are thickest and tallest on the North and East sides. The idea is that during the growing season the rocks will help warm the area up earlier and keep it warm later by radiating solar heat, lengthening the season. During the winter, they will help shelter from the worst of the winds and help insulate by being closer to ground temperature, usually about 25 F, than air temperature (lows of 0 F here last winter). My current winterizing plan is to wrap the trunks in tree guards to reduce chance of rot and rodent damage and cover with mulch and/or leaves.

Most of the rocks, except for the slate, are from my yard. I have a lot of rocks. Usually pull out a bushel or two for every hole I dig.

 
A special UNK. This is in the front "flower" bed by my front door, house faces south so extra protection there. If you look closely in the mulch there are some shoots coming up from cuttings I buried the old fashioned way.

 
Brown Turkeys, gobble gobble.

 
Bronx White. This, the BT, and a Lattarula that I'm still building the wall for are all on this west facing hill. There's also a Hardy Chicago elsewhere that I have yet to build a wall for, it will be like the 1st photo using slate rocks.

I have room for 1 more of these plantings on the hillside, I'm hoping to get a good Mt Etna type. Perhaps a Black Bethlehem if I can track one down. I live about 45 minutes from Bethlehem, a semi-local variety would be great to have.

I like your ring of rocks. It looks attractive. Hope it works for you.

For heat zones, I find grouping all the pots together helps with creating their own shade and also helps with winds knocking over the pots in monsoon season. Easy to group the pots for a fig junkie. No other choice.

 hiya, kelby.  i put a layer of flat rocks around my trees  to slow water loss n control weeds.

after the bunnies started eating my trees i made some wells like yours, 10-12'' high. they work well against evil rabbits.

i suspect they will moderate climate too, it get's very cold here but the sun always shines.  some i made of upended rocks because i got tired of hauling rocks. not sure those will help.

i  tried to post a pic but this site says the file is too big,

Hi Ampersand,
I would try to build a two bricks high "wall" and one brick of depth all around the tree and plant the tree higher than the dirt.
The side walls would help heat the inside dirt .
I would use dark materials/stones as they attract more the heat .
For protecting the above dirt parts of the tree, look at my post for winter protection.

Just one thing, if you heat the dirt in the winter, you will attract critters ... Consider the in dirt eighty liters trashcan method ...
In my garden, I just saw new evidences of rodent activity near my trees ... For once, that made my laugh !
But I did setup the traps already - I'm not allowing them to multiply !

jds, what traps do you use? i put mouse traps out n they rusted immediately.

Hi Susiegz,
Mouse traps don't work for the voles as they live underground.
They live in the dirt and eat the roots even on trees. They often team with moles to build their infrastructure.
I use "pince puttange" . They rust a bit but are still usable . Just don't loose the tiny square to keep the opening.

Susie: If you use Windows, open your photos in Paint. There is a resize option in there under the 'Image' section. 1000x750 pixels is a good size for the forum. There is a guy in Austria, Sepp Holzer, who does permaculture in the Alps. He uses large rocks sticking out of ponds to heat the water so he can raise fish and plants that normally wouldn't survive because it's too cold. I'm sure it'll work for figs, at least a little!

JDS: I'm just using what rocks come out of the ground, unfortunately most are a sandy-tan color and not dark. But they are free, so it's what I'll use. I had considered raising the plantings up, but then they would be more exposed to killing winter winds, even through the rocks I'd be afraid the root zone will freeze solid. Maybe if I get to the point where I figs to spare I'll that. As far as rodents are concerned, we have a couple stray cats that patrol the street, so all have are squirrels, rabbits, and birds. Nearly 2 years here and I've only seen evidence of voles, and that was only when we moved in. To be safe though I will be using tree wrap (the white spiral stuff) around them in winter.