It's easy enough to grow an outdoor fig and produce a thing of boundless vigour with handsome leaves, but if you want the fruit, which is rather the point, it needs to be taken in hand. The wise fig planter will have confined its roots in an underground chamber lined with paving slabs to encourage it to think about fruiting. At this time of year, it needs pruning. Look at the new shoots and prune each back to four or five leaves. This will get it thinking along the right lines. The leaves will merely adorn your statues.
* Follow Country Life magazine on Twitter
* Subscribe to Country Life from just £51
-
Jungle temples, pet snakes and the most expensive car in the world: Country Life Quiz of the Day, April 14, 2025Mondays's quiz tests your knowledge on English kings, astronomy and fashion.
-
Welcome to the modern party barn, where disco balls are 'non-negotiable'A party barn is the ultimate good-time utopia, devoid of the toil of a home gym or the practicalities of a home office. Modern efforts are a world away from the draughty, hay-bales-and-a-hi-fi set-up of yesteryear.
