Trees exhibit varying degrees of apical dominance, depending on cultivar/variety. If left to their own devices, the apically dominant trees grow strongly upright, while those that are not apically dominant, tend to be bushy with lots of secondary, lateral growth. The reason for this is that in all plants, there is an antagonistic relationship (a battle, if you will) between the growth hormones auxin and cytokinin. When cytokinin is in sufficient supply in a plant, even in a single branch, it stimulates the secondary growth behind the growing branch tips. In apically dominant trees, the production of auxin is sufficient to suppress the effects of this hormone by stimulating elongation at the branch or leader apex (tip).

Auxin is produced mainly in apical meristems & newly developing leaves, so when we prune off the tips of branches (the apical meristematic areas) auxin flow is greatly diminished and cytokinin then "takes over" and stimulates copious lateral growth, turning the tree into a bush.

So you can see there are two factors at play here: genetics (how genetically apically dominant the tree is/is not), and pruning practice/skill/ability. Even plants with almost "0" apical dominance and an extreme tendency to grow prostrate (ground cover type plants) can be coaxed into standard upright growth with judicious pruning.

So, if you want to take the time to train your trees into the shape you want, there is no reason you must accept the growth habit encoded into the plant's genes.

Al

nsl777, Another possible factor is freezing weather. You don't say what zone you are in. If there have been temperatures cold enough to kill back figs (10-20 degrees F) they will come back from the roots with multiple stems - bush form. Some varieties, like Celeste, will tolerate temperatures as low as zero degrees F and maintain their tree form with only branch damage.

I live in zone 7 and have a fig bush which produced a very large amount of figs,so many that I was giving them away. I’m new to growing figs. My question is that, I got a second bush from the original bush which yielded a large amount of figs also, should relocate this bush cause it’s close to the original one

???

Al