You will probably get better advice in the houseplant forum. We talk about the edible fig here. Do you have any of those in your area? The black tips are a sign of too much salt in the potting mix, I am not sure about the top leaves though. My guess is spider mites.

redhairing... I understand how daunting pruning an overgrown fig tree can be. But, you are in luck. There have been a number of recent threads that cover this very topic. Search this forum, and you will see plenty of photos of hard-pruned fig trees. Also, You-Tube has some pruning videos. You will need a good, tree-pruning saw to establish the basic structure of the tree. I would not be too worried about "murdering" this fig tree, as they do with crepe myrtles. But you will have to decide where to make those initial pruning cuts to prevent this. You already know the basics of pruning. If you can, post some photos of the tree, and maybe forum members will suggest places for the pruning cuts. You have plenty of time. Major pruning should be done in the Spring, before tree breaks dormancy. You will also want to do this, gradually, over a number of years. Even if you screw up...and I am sure you will not...the tree will put out so much new wood that you will never know within a few seasons. Figs are one of the few trees that can be drastically pruned back, with few worries. It's done all the time to control rampant growth. Good luck. Frank

I am not an expert on clematis, but my experience is mixed. In my garden, the more sun they receive, the better! My garden, which is located on a rocky ridge, is shaded by several large native oak trees. My soil is clay with lots of rocks! It is a struggle to grow clematis here. Very few of my neighbors even try. But to me, the struggle is worth it! Here is a list of what has survived in my Santa Rosa, Ca garden: Barbara Jackmanii Boulavard Nubia Claire de Lune Comptesse du Bouchaud Daniel Deronda Dr. Rupple Edouard Desfosse' (beautiful) Ernest Markham (excellent) Florida 'Sieboldii' (excellent) Huldine (good here!) Jackmanii (excellent!) Multi-blue (no good) Nelli Moser (good) Niobe Pink Champaign (kakio) (great) Hybrida Sieboldii (Ramona) Rebecca Good luck, and keep trying! I see your posts on the rose page and I think you have a green thumb!

Tell us more about what you want, a shade tree or figs to eat. If you want to eat figs, that 'bush' is well formed. I had 4 plants in a 12' x 14' space between 2 driveways in Palo Alto, CA. Each year there is at least the chance of a few days in the mid to upper 20's F. I learned about controlling height after the largest had grown so that I needed a ladder to reach the top. I used it to test out new varieties by bark grafting fresh new growth on the donor tree. I'd suggest pruning to restrict the tree to main crop figs; they are the best tasting in my experience. After the last chance of a hard frost I'd cut last year's growth back to 1 bud facing where I wanted the branch to grow. When that reached 6-8 new leaves I'd start pinching out the new growth buds until the season ends. Some varieties only need one pinching, others send up a new shoot that must be removed before it grows to a point that is out of reach. Do an image search on your favorite search engine for the string "fig pruning" to see the possibilities. Remember, main crop figs form at the leaf nodes. Enough for now, baumgrenze Below are 2 photos, one after pruning in late January 2016 and another in mid-May.