The best time to prune a fig fruit tree is when all the leaves fall and the tree is dormant. In dormancy the tree will not bleed sap, which makes the chore easier. Prune in late winter or early spring. However, damaged, broken, or diseased branches can be removed at any time. Use a sharp, sterile tool to make clean pruning cuts, leaving no stubs behind. Cut at an oblique angle above the branch bark collar (the tree collar area is resistant to disease and promotes healing). Do not head back the tree, but rather make thinning cuts to secondary limbs back no more than a third or a quarter of the plant.

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-- Courtesy of NYBG Plant Information Service