Greetings everyone!  Spring has definitely sprung in my area.  I killed all growth above the topsoil on my trees by trying to protect them from freezes using leaves.  I guess the leaves got wet and smothered the branches.  Anyhow I dug down and found green on some of my trees.  What do I need to do to get these plants to come back from the roots.  They are mulched really heavy already.  Is it necessary to cut all dead growth down now?  Is it urgent to do so, I mean does pruning the dead growth do anything other than make everything look neat and tidy?  When should I expect some new growth?  I live in zone 7b, we actually had a really mild winter.  If I had not attempted to protect the trees they would have survived for sure.

You could try mouth to fig or CPR but I doubt it would work.  I think you're best off leaving everything as is until you get some growth and the plant makes it clear what's dead and what's not.  Others will tell you differently  :)  Just water when it needs it and fertilize after all frost danger has passed.

Hi,
If you mulched heavily, I would remove some mulch for heat to reach the roots faster, and for new stems to easily find their way to the sun light.
Don't cut anything, and wait to see what sprouts back.
Keep the trees watered and fertilized as a normal tree.
Here buds have broken their shells something like 10 days ago. Leaves are still tiny as we still get 5°c as morning temps ... That's a bit fresh for this time of the year. Some brebas already show some damage ... Damn it !

Same issue with my in ground Chicago Hardy which I thought survived here in Long Island NY but no leafing yet. I scratched at a branch and see a little green so I guess I will just sit tight and keep watered and wait before I cut anything down to ground. Tree was wrapped in winter so not sure why it looks like die back. Same issue last year and tree roared back, grew 7 feet and provided a bounty of figs. That suggestion about pushing some mulch away from base makes good sense.

Tennesseefig, may I ask where you are from? I'm in Boston and also experienced heavy die back, despite thorough wrapping.Trunks seem okay but lost a lot of branches, no leafing out yet. Barry, it seems to me that many People from New York to Maine have experienced hard die back. I am going to leave my trees alone now until late may. Leaving on dead wood won't harm them, but a shoot may appear higher up than you would expect if you don't prune yet. 

I didn't wrap my in-ground trees at all and in early April they looked great.  There was some die-back but not severe at all.  There were buds swelling and some had brebas swelling as well.  Then we had two nights of 28 degrees and one night at 27.  I think that did some major damage and now some are probably nearly froze to the ground.  Needless to say, the brebas did not make it.  In addition to the additional die-back they are definitely set back by at least 2 weeks.

Thanks for the all the advise guys!  

Figtrees2013 I live in Tennessee :)

Don't cut the "dead" tops too soon. Many times they will sprout, just a few weeks later than the shoots from underground.

I am also in Long Island, and we are anxiously awaiting leaf sprouting as well. I think maybe we are all anxious and ready after the mild winter. It is still early in the grand scheme of spring. :-). But I'll admit, I check for buds almost daily.