I haven't posted here in a few years, but I'd appreciate opinions/recommendations on my situation.

I successfully overwintered about six different varieties of potted figs in my garage and one in-ground in a figloo for several years. These were all raised from cuttings and ranged from one to five years old. This past New England winter, however, was a disaster. My unattached garage was frozen shut and not enterable due to several feet of snow and ice. I was not able to water the trees until about late March or April. Within a month, I pulled them all out and root pruned and repotted, which I have successfully done in past years...meaning that I'm confident that I didn't destroy the root structure. At that time, I saw a lot of healthy looking (i.e., white) roots. There were leaf buds and green when I scratched into the bark.

Since then, there has been no growth. The limbs have dried out and are brittle. I've kept them evenly watered, not too much, not too little. No hard freezes.

This past week (first week of June), I pulled one out of it's pot to reuse the pot for a new tree that a family member bought as a condolence. The old tree that looked dead had many healthy looking white roots.

Given the white roots that I saw, do I hold out any hope that there might be some new growth from these otherwise dead-seeming trees? If so, what is the best way to nurture them through this period to encourage sprouting of new limbs? After doing a quick internet search, a family member suggested cutting down to near soil level.

Looking forward to some hopeful suggestions.
Thanks, Geoff