Are you serious? I don't think a fig tree can be a topiary. Huge leaves. Maybe ask the fig forum?

If you want a lot of figs, don't cut the thing.

I am really serious. There was a guy in North Carolina who did a blog on his small garden with LOTS of figs. He espalier'd (is that a verb?) his figs and they produced profusely. http://point09acres.blogspot.com/2012/06/espalier-fig-iv.html

Check it out! But unfortunately he hasn't written anything in a long time.

I grow a Celeste fig as a standard. Will post a pic tomorrow.

Here is a photo of my sprawling fig. For the last two winters it has died back completely to the ground. I let it get out of hand this year and most of the limbs are almost vertical. I've carefully used bungee cords to keep them off the ground but it was too little too late. I have a good many figs but the shape of the tree/bush is not attractive. The grape vine is obstructing the view of the back side of the fig which isn't much different from the front.

It

Here is Panache, not nearly as big or vigorous. But already produces fruit. . My Celeste looked similar in its younger days

Finally, this is Kadota, which has been sluggish and I don't know why but suspect that it could use more water. Hope this helps. A lot of people won't consider trimming b/c there's something wonderful about just walking to a tree and collecting fruit; whereas I have to use a short ladder. I don't mind. IT would be fun to work on an espalier but I have more figs than I know what to do with.

As to your orig ?, I do not think a fig can b pruned into being a topiary. Standard (single trunk), yes, espalier, yes, topiary NO. I suspect somebody got their terms mixed up

It is a brown turkey fig that I got at Home Depot. So you don't think its feasilble to keep it small. That is what I meant by topiary - a smaller shape. Don't want to put up a fence to espalier it but some kind of shape to make it more pleasing and not too large. Its in front of my vegetable garden and I don't want it to shadow the beds too much. Thanks for the pictures.

You can keep any fig tree small by pruning it. Many people grow figs in pots and they stay small. A topiary is a shaped shrub like something you would see at Disneyland. Some are spiraled, balled, conedj, or shaped like animals.

Brown turkey is a giant, growing 15-25 ft. Here is a tip that has helped me, perhaps it will help you. I always take my phone along when plant shopping esp at big box stores, where plants are tagged, if at all, with vague descriptions/instructions. That way you won't get caught in a pickle like you are now.

if I were you, I would transplant next spring to a location where you can grow a TREE, if not possible, sell or give away. Then go to your local extension website And ask about best cultivars for your area in terms of flavor, production and size.

yoy could top off the fig as you would a boxwood but eventually bugs would get into the wounds and kill tree--a waste of time, effort and tree. Big boxes are notorious for selling cutest wootsey plants that turn into nightmares monsters. Let that b a lesson

Your brown fig will get like my Celeste pictured above

Look up topiary, doesn't mean what you think

I have a lot of topiaries - shaped plants that I have done myself. I was just asking in case someone knew of something I hadn't thought of. But now I realize with the extremely large leaves that my fig doesn't lend itself to shaping. And yes, I'm bad about buying cheap deals from the big boxes but it is very hard to find any kind of dwarf fruit trees in my area. I heavily pruned a peach tree this year that wants to be way bigger than I want it to be. Thanks for your feedback!

good for you!

It is perfectly ok to get plants from box stores but one just needs to be armed with info so that the cheapie plant doesn't turn into Pricey mistake. That's all.

I about fell over after reading this article. I plan to try it with a couple of apple trees and see if starting from the beginning will make it easy to keep them small. Look at this pictures! Create Small Fruit Trees with This Pruning Method

A friend showed me her fruit trees and I'd never seen such things, kept small the way she had done, like in your link just above. They look so attractive as well as being practical. It seems like a great way to have a few different types of fruit trees but still not block sun from other things that need it.

I've ordered the book and can't wait to read it. I hoped to plant some whips but I didn't get the ground prepped well enough. Think I'll do that next year and then plant the following spring. I need to kill some grass and amend the soil.