Fig tree not doing so well

[Areti Woods]

My dad planted this fig tree, which he’d been growing in a pot previously, last autumn. It’s in quite heavy clay but we dug in plenty of compost and also mulched around it with a whole bag of manure compost. It hasn’t shown any sign of new leaves or growth so far and also has these cracks at the join of two branches. When I scratch the bark it does seem to be green in places so I haven’t given up hope yet.
Any ideas what I could do to encourage survival and is there anything I should cover the cracking with. All advice much appreciated. Thank you

[Plot70]

I have got two fig trees that were both grown from seeds taken from fruit bought from a middle eastern run shop in Sheffield.
Last spring the bigger one was already in the ground and it lost its lead shoot buds in that horrid late frost as did the smaller one in a pot.
This year I planted the smaller one out.
The bigger one lost all the lead shoot buds after breaking into growth in March only to loose its early growth in that nasty cold period in April and May and is now leafing up nicely.
The smaller one still in a pot was cut back to ground level and is suckering back up again. It is now planted in the ground too.
Yours should soon sucker up from below the ground again if it is anything like mine.

[ameno]

Other than making sure to keep it watered there's not a lot you can do to help it.
Figs are resilient, though, and as said above, even if the top growth is dead, as long as the roots are still alive it will send up new shoots from the roots sooner or later.

If it is alive then it will definitely regrow this year, though. If it still shows no signs of life by the autumn then it is dead.

[Areti Woods]

Thanks Plot70 and ameno that's reassuring. This fig has much sentimental value for me so I really hope it's ok - plus I love figs

Assuming it throws up new growth, will those new shoots naturally grow to become a trunk with side branches?

[Plot70]

With mine they are just bushing out.
Late frosts preclude them forming into traditional trees going by how mine have come back from the frost over two years.
I moved both of them away from buildings due to the risk of root damage to the walls.
The late frosts take out the lead shoots and the side shoots take a couple of weeks to bud out.

[DannyK]

Both my in and outdoor fig trees are full of leaves and the outdoor one has a lot of well formed fruits.

Have you restricted the roots? Both mine are in "boxes" of 2ft slabs with bricks at the bottom and it's surprising how big they've grown.

I have always understood that unrestricted roots gives vegetative as opposed to fruit growth.