Two more fig winter protection techniques uncovered
We tried two new methods
of protecting
our fig trees last fall. The one I apparently forgot to blog about
involved bending a young fig down so its branches sat directly on the
ground, then piling old garden weeds on top to produce an insulative
layer above which I layered a tarp for waterproofing. Despite reports
that this is the preferred method of winter-protecting a fig outside
its hardiness zone, our wet soil turned the attempt into a failure ---
anywhere fig branches touched the ground resulted in dead wood.
On the other hand, our hay
porcupine worked
like a charm. Granted, this past winter was warmer than usual, so it's
not an entirely fair comparison. But every branch survived and many are
pushing out new leaves. If I ever have that much leftover hay or straw,
I'll definitely repeat the trick again!
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About us: Anna Hess and Mark Hamilton spent over a decade living self-sufficiently in the mountains of Virginia before moving north to start over from scratch in the foothills of Ohio. They've experimented with permaculture, no-till gardening, trailersteading, home-based microbusinesses and much more, writing about their adventures in both blogs and books.
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