I can see where the trench would sound strange to someone who gardens in Virginia and thus has never had cause to look into rose protection strategies. The whole bend into trench drama is on that list too.

Or maybe not the part about the roots. I confess I can’t remember at the moment, probably because it’s not something I’d bother with.

For a rose. For figs, on the other hand, I’d do almost anything. We ended up needing to shorten ( and cover) about a third of the root circumference, and that might not be a third of the roots. The cut side is the house side and it seems reasonable to suppose more roots went out towards the world of water and nourishment.

I doubt root pruning is beneficial, but it must be survivable because a couple of our figs are divisions that have already been through one winter in the cellar.

It’s hard to know how much protection to suggest in your case – a bit of winter dieback is likely if temperatures go much below 20, but freezes that come late, after active growth has resumed, are often more damaging and those are almost impossible to defend against.

Burlap around stakes will prevent windburn but that’s about all. For winter protection you could try a couple layers of bubble wrap under the staked burlap if you’d prefer that to straw, but I’d still suggest something that meets the ground and makes insulating air chambers for the first few years. If the thing gets big enough to provide shade you will as you point out have to protect the figs, not the tree.

One warning: if you go the bubble wrap route, be sure there’s ventilation and don’t forget a sunblock ( the burlap will be fine for that).

Whoops, forgot the other question. It’s a lemon verbena, Aloysia triphylla, and it usually winters in the basement too.

Also – what kind of verbena is that???