Q. I
am reaching out to you to see if you could offer some advice on my established
fig tree. I noticed that some of the leaves have turned yellow with browning at
the end and are drying off. The tree seemed to be healthy up until the last
couple of weeks. The fruit seems to be in good shape.
A. The fig tree appears to be okay except for a few yellow leaves. The picture you sent shows the yellow leaves in the shade or interior of the tree. That could be normal if the leaves are not getting enough sunlight they will turn yellow and drop. The most important thing is the growth of the tree and fruit production. You haven't mentioned it's growth but the fruit production seems to be good from what I understand, another indicator that the tree is healthy. There doesn't appear to be a problem except the yellow leaves in the shade in the center of the tree. For those reasons I would tell you that there isn't a problem.
I would suggest however that you keep the grass away from the base of the tree two or three feet. Dig out the grass from this area and cover the soil with wood chips. Rock would not be a good idea there. Do not plant annual flowers in that area but you could put a circle of edging around the tree to contain the mulch. I would not plant anything in the mulch area but keep it free of weeds. The fig tree will get plenty of water and fertilizer because of the lawn.
It will not need anything extra. Make sure that the lawn
is not getting so much water that it harms the tree.
