I have seven fig trees. Two are of the dwarf variety growing on my deck. The other five are in the ground. They died back the first few years (even though I used straw and wrapped them), but they came back. During those early years, they didn't show new growth until later in the season than I expected. I did not wrap them last year because they are too large and well established. I only lost a few tips on one this winter.
A tip for those in soggy conditions: I also live along a river and have very wet springs. It can take a while for us to dry out in the spring. I've learned through trial and error on how to overcome that. I planted our figs half in the ground and half out-inside of a tire with the side walls cut off. I filled in the tire with soil.
I removed the tires this year and am using one of them to establish a new grapevine that will shade our peafowl's large habitat. My son has established nut trees he grew using my half in/half out method too. When I removed the tires from the figs, I added more soil and heavily mulched them. They are looking very good.
