A year in the life of a Ginkgo

Last year, I tried this Ino Shukuho pot for the ginkgo. It was significantly undersized, but I though I could make it work.

Here is is in winter 2021.

Repotted into this Sara Rayner pot in March 2022

Late May 2022

October 2022

Clearly the tree had a weak growing season. Really the only difference was the too-small pot used last year. It will be interesting to see if next year is stronger. I will not repot it in 2023 and hope for a strong recovery.

Fall color

After leaf drop, I cleaned up the tree, lightly pruning the few extension shoots.

Since this tree has been grown exclusively through clip and grow, pruning to outward-facing buds is important for the structure.

Additionally, some of the long and straight internodes are allowed to remain for fullness, but will eventually be replaced with other branches in the area with shorter internodes.

Moss, while pretty, needs to be removed from the trunk to prevent too much moisture retention.

Finally, a shot of the tree cleaned up and ready for winter.

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Fall cleanup on the ginkgo

Well, thanks to tropical storm Zeta, not many leaves were left for a fall show this year, so I decided to take a minute and defoliate the tree so I could get in and prune it back.

Defoliated:

Shorten long shoots down to an outward-facing bud:

And:

This year, not much was removed:

Next up, remove the moss:

Finished:

Ginkgo close-ups

I took a few shots of this tree just as fall color was starting to peek in. New posts coming soon, but for now enjoy some photos.

This is a ginkgo grown from seed I collected in 1997, making the tree 23 years old. It is about 18” tall, in a 13.5” wide Tokoname pot. I decided to try a masculine pot this year, hopeful it would be a nice match at fall, and a little larger to get through a year of typical massive root growth.