Moving a fig.

[Weekend_Sawyer]

I have a large fig colony in my front yard up against my house here in Maryland. I live smack dab between Baltimore and Washington DC.
The Fig is very healthy bearing loads of fruit every year. They taste great but attract Thousands upon thousands of flies and bees. That's why I want to move it to the back corner of my yard. There are atleast a dozen stalks from 1/4" to 2" it is over 10' tall and it's growing in an area about 10' across.

Questions:
What is the best time of year to trim it back.
When is the best time to move it.
How well do fig bushes take to being moved.

I would hate to destroy this bush because my mother planted it and it does give wonderful fruit. If you have never had a fresh fig they are super sweet and jucy. My 4 year old nice says it's kinda gooey.

WS

[DanG]

Jon, I never tried to move a large one like that, but I know they are easy to root. Snip off a few sprouts of last spring's growth about 9-12 inches long and just stick'em in some dirt or potting soil. Most of them will sprout out in the spring and be ready for transplanting the following spring. You might want to try starting some new ones this way before attempting to move the big one, just in case the move doesn't go well.

You may be able to move the plant in sections, if it has multiple sprouts coming out of the soil. Just do a little exploratory digging to see what the root system is like. From what you said, it sounds like it is more than one plant.

[Weekend_Sawyer]

 Yes it is a colony of figs. It just keeps sending up more shoots every year. What I am thinking is that I can take the backhoe and scoop out sections of it. I think it will move ok, I want to trim the bigger stalks down before the move and can start some sprouts from them.

[Weekend_Sawyer]

 I moved the Fig colony last night. It had not started budding yet. I trimed it back and got it out in 3 big hunks with the backhoe and moved it back along my fence where it will not attract so many flies and bees to the house .

A couple of months ago I took a hand full of cuttings and got them started in the house. they are doing well, starting to bud.

So far so good.