I wish I could plant something else besides the Spirea but the landlord is very strict with a lot of "rules" and specifically prohibited planting anything in the ground (only in pots). The Spirea were already here when I moved in. They seem to attract flies and are not really the nicest-looking landscaping greenery. Something that flowers would be nice. I seem to have a black thumb though so if I grow something in a pot myself it would have to do well in shade and be low maintenance. I had got the evergreen shrub for my front door area, thinking that at least it would always be green, but I apparently can't even keep an evergreen green. There are brown areas even though I water it so heavily. I noticed the little trees grow like a weed without effort and always thought potted trees were cute. I had a small ficus once but it died indoors and I don't think they are the type that would not die in Winter in our climate (at the time we lived at an apartment that had few windows and no patio and got poor sun due to the windows placement).

Jae, "Encourage root development," preposterous!!! Root growth follows leaf growth, not precedes it. Remove all its leaves and a tree will essentially stop root production, even balance its root load by aborting (dying back), those roots that are no longer needed since there are no leaves to support. Leaves feed a tree. They are a tree's mouth, and stomach, and bowels. They "eat" (so to say), the nutrients, and the water their roots provide to nourish the tree. Eliminate the leaves and the roots have nothing to do but stop functioning, go dormant and/or die off until new leaves emerge, and start the "green factory" going again. Figs are tough, extremely adaptable, and respond like crazy to good care. There's hardly a more lush looking fruiting tree than a well cared for fig tree. Let your denuded fig just recover now. It should be pushing out new growth by now. If we have a warm fall, the growth should get a foot or so long by Thanksgiving/season's end. Give it good care. In spring, just as it begins to leaf out, start shaping it to the form, single or multiple trunked as you choose. It should sprout new growth down low that you can encourage if you want a multi-trunk fig tree. There is a fig nursery out your way in NJ, French Fig Farm, frenchfigfarm@gmail.com. Give them a call or visit. Their web site is extremely informational for cold climate fig growers like us. Keep your fig between 40 and 25 degrees F. all winter long. No light is needed. Water when needed just to keep soil moist. Do not let the fig sit in water in a catch tray. Its roots will rot. My largest fig pot is 10 gallons. I use black nursery pots, Gro Pro pots, made in USA, and BPA free, are best. Through periodic root and branch pruning a fig tree (I keep my fig trees at 4-5' X 3-4'), can grow excellently, and produce tons of figs. You don't need a larger pot to have success. Of course, a larger pot is perfectly OK, cumbersome, but fine, too. The larger the pot, the harder it is to shuffle it around. Your back will not thank you. I wish you great success. Moses

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.

where are you.. big city name.. always imperative.. when you want to discuss plant selections.. hard to tell much of anything from this distance.. are you afraid of the plant.. lol .. it looks mostly dead.. but i cant tell if the green below is related to the conifer... it is a conifer.. and its a tree.. you left out the peeps in both those forums... one thing for sure.. august is not tree planting time.. see link section one.. https://sites.google.com/site/tnarboretum/Home/planting-a-tree-or-shrub also... do not rely on lawn irrigation... to properly water your new transplant... even if there is some green down low.. it will take a decade or so.. tree time.. for it to recover and appear equivalent with the others.. and it will never catch up ... so.. the only real answer.. imo.. is replacement... ken