April is the perfect time for the first pruning of wall trained figs as this should be after the last hard frost. (The second prune is early/mid-summer which is about encouraging more branching instead of longer shoots by pinching the tip of new shoots once they have five leaves). The general rule for the April prune is either to leave branches/shoots unpruned or prune back hard. The new crop for this year will develop from the pea-sized fruitlets on the tips of shoots that formed the previous year. Although you may need to prune some of these now, keep in mind to make sure you leave plenty unpruned or you will lose your crop. Reduce the total number of young shoots formed the previous year by up to a third, pruning hard leaving a 2.5cm stub. Prioritise taking out weak shoots and those without any fruitlets at the tip. Aim for good spacing of all branches in the framework by removing any badly placed (coming forward or against the wall) or crowded shoots completely. Also consider removing any older or damaged branches by cutting them back to 8-10cm to encourage new replacement shoots so as to renew the framework over time. Finally tie in all branches and shoots to wires with new soft twine. Any remaining fruits from last year should be removed - only the new pea-sized fruitlets should be retained.
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