Ficus carica (Fig)

A hardy and extremely characterful deciduous tree with delicious fruits…sometimes.

 It seems down to the tree itself and some years you’ll get buckets and others hardly any. Take what you can get and enjoy the tree for its architectural charm and accommodating nature. The leaf shape is instantly recognisable: and they smell wonderful. I frequently smell one before I see it: glancing up and seeing those woozily-edged leaves silhouetted against the sky is always a delight.

While it can be (and has…since Mediaeval times) trained against a sunny wall, we like it best when encouraged to grow into a proper tree shape with broad and spreading low branches (all the better for reaching the fruit). Lovely as a shade tree and handsome enough as a focal point or specimen, it’s smooth trunk and twisty limbs for unique contortions that are soon full of character. Left to their own rubber-limbed devices they can be unruly and sprawly creatures but with some patience they are easily trained.

Figs can be seen all over the place but one of the biggest we've ever seen is in a surprising place - right by the old A23 (now the road from the A23 to Handcross village) in West Sussex. It's huge and multi stemmed and very striking. Apparently there's a forest of Fig trees growing on the banks of the river Don in the middle of Sheffield.