GARDENING GREEN WITH DOUG 

Figs

By Doug Oster

September 18, 2025

Alan and Louise Savinell are dwarfed by a giant fig tree, filled with thousands of deep purple, soft ripe figs in their Penn Hills backyard.

Growing figs is a passion for Alan and this special tree has been part of his life since childhood. “The tree we’re looking at, it was in my grandpa’s yard ever since I was a little boy,” The 75 year-old gardener says with a smile.

The tree is at least 20 feet tall and wide with two substantial, thick trunks.

“My grandpa passed away around 1990,” he says, “and we dug the tree up and brought it over here.” It was his youngest daughter Chrissy who inspired him to transplant the tree as a memory of her beloved grandfather.

Last year he harvested over 6,000 figs from this tree and the others he has growing in a side yard, these are in big containers, each one weighing 200 pounds.

“I'll pick figs for a day, and I'll bring them in here and put them on the counter so I can sort them because some are better than others,” he says of the bountiful harvest. 

“Some are good enough to give away and some are either too ripe or too hard and we'll do something else with them.”

Sharing the figs with friends and family is one of the things he loves about caring for the trees.  The figs are picked over a 10-week period, with the container varieties producing first. Those figs in pots need at least a gallon or two of water every day and are fertilized periodically too.

The couple keeps about 1,000 figs a year, enjoying them fresh, dehydrating some and making fig jam, the rest are given away.

Figs are not an easy crop to grow in a northern climate. Gardeners usually have a reason to keep a tree going year to year.

In many cases, if the top growth is not protected, it’s killed to the ground. The plant will sprout from the roots but often don’t have enough time to produce figs.

For Alan’s containers, each one has a sort of dedicated wagon and is rolled into the garage after frost removes the leaves.  The stems are tied or strapped together to condense them as much as possible.

“We'll cut off as much of the top as we have to so it can fit through the garage door,” he says about the wintering over process.

The trees will stay in the garage until temperatures moderate in May. While in hibernation, the plants will get a little water every couple of weeks.

“In the fall, I fold them down as much as I can and tie the whole bundle together,” Alan says of the supple branches.

He scours the neighborhood, picking up bags of leaves left on the curb. 

“I'll put those paper bags in plastic, that just makes it easier to deal with them," says Alan.

The bags are stacked all the way around the tree, then Alan puts as many covers and blankets as he can around the bags of leaves.

There are thermometers inside the pile to monitor the temperature. If it drops well below freezing Alan even has a small heater inside the pile to keep the plant happy. 

“For most winters, you don't have to do it,” he says of heating the tree. “But last year there was a week when I was running it.”

So why does he go to all this trouble? He looks over at Louise and says, “she asks that all time,” he remarks with a laugh.

“He enjoys growing them,” she says with a smile. “It’s fun.”

Alan reflects for a minute and adds, “I just like watching them grow.”

As the couple sit at their kitchen table, Alan is asked if he feels a connection to his grandfather by doing this.

He pauses for a minute, fighting back the tears as he remembers his grandpa. While watching her husband, with a sweet smile Louise says, “I guess he does.”

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Host of "In Doug's Garden" on CBS KDKA-TV Streaming

Host of The Organic Gardener Radio Show on KDKA Radio.

Host of the Talking Trees podcast for The Davey Tree Expert Company

Consultant for Farm to Table Buy Fresh Buy Local

Columnist for Pittsburgh Earth Day's "The Green Voice"