Ginkgo biloba
Ginkgo
Common names: Maidenhair tree
At a glance
- Light
- Full sun
- Hardiness
- Hardy
Description
The Ginkgo is regarded as a living fossil, having remained virtually unchanged for over 200 million years. Its fan-shaped leaves turn golden yellow in autumn and often fall within a few days. For garden use, only male cultivars such as 'Fastigiata' or 'Princeton Sentry' are recommended, because female trees produce seeds with an unpleasant, rancid buttery odor. The ripe seed husks can cause skin irritation upon contact, so gloves are advisable when collecting them and children should not put the fruits in their mouths.
Care instructions
Plant the Ginkgo in a sunny to partially shaded spot with well‑drained, deep soil. Young trees benefit from regular watering during the first two to three years, especially in dry summer weeks. Pruning is rarely necessary; remove only dead or crossing branches in late winter. The Ginkgo is frost‑hardy, highly resistant to pests and diseases, and tolerates urban climates with drought stress well. A mulch layer around the root zone retains moisture and suppresses competing vegetation.
The care notes were machine-translated from German.
Soil & site
Soil pH
Soil type
well-drained, loamy, sandy, dry
Ginkgo is surprisingly undemanding when it comes to soil and tolerates both sandy and loamy sites, as long as water drains well. It dislikes waterlogging intensely, so on heavy soils it is worth putting a drainage layer of gravel or grit in the planting hole. A slightly acidic to neutral pH between 5.5 and 7.5 suits it best, but it also tolerates lime-rich soils well. Once established, it copes with short dry spells too.
Feeding
Light feeder
As a tree with very modest growth, ginkgo needs no regular feeding. In spring it is enough to give young trees a thin layer of ripe compost around the root zone to encourage soil life. On poor soils you can also apply some well-rotted mulch, which is entirely enough for healthy, even growth. More nutrients lead to soft, frost-tender growth rather than any benefit.
Overwintering
As a tree from East Asia, ginkgo is fully hardy in our latitudes and, once established, needs no special winter protection. Young trees in their first two to three years appreciate a layer of mulch over the root zone, which protects the soil from freezing deeply. For container growing, you should place the pot against a sheltered house wall and wrap it in horticultural fleece or hessian so the root ball does not freeze through completely. In autumn the leaves turn a brilliant yellow and then usually all drop within a few days.
Propagation
Methods
- From seed
- Cuttings
- Grafting
Sowing works with the seeds of female trees, which you sow into seed compost in autumn, or in spring after a cold period. Because ginkgo is dioecious, with seedlings you only find out after many years whether the tree will be male or female. Anyone who wants a particular cultivar or a known sex therefore usually propagates by semi-ripe cuttings in summer or by grafting onto a rootstock. Cuttings need a lot of patience and a warm, humid propagation climate until they form roots of their own.
For your garden
Grow Ginkgo yourself
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