Ginkgo!

[JoeR]

Here's a nude for the forum's enjoyment.

Tree has me worried a little, I took it on vacation to the beach for Thanksgiving (dont get to appreciate my trees as much as I'd like) and didn't think about the tap water having salt. Watered it once with tap out there, realised the problem, and flushed the pot. Leaves looked bad after coming home, somewhat translucent, but I doubt the water could have that much salt that one watering with it would be a problem. It froze for the first time before I noticed the bad leaves, so it may also have been that.

 

[JoeR]

If i remove the back branch:

 

[badatusernames]

My fiancee liked the gingkos so I got a one or two year old sapling from a nursery. It's basically just a twig in the ground at this point.

My understanding is that making them branch is rather difficult. If I wanted to start working on this as though it were to eventually be something, other than leave it as a twig in a pot, is there anything in particular that would be worth knowing?

My thought it probably to just leave it in the ground for a few years, maybe chop in half or 1/3 (I've not done a trunk chop before so I'm guessing here) in year one, and just let it ride and see what happens, but I'm kind of shooting in the dark.

 

[AlainK]

Any photos ?

That would help...

 

[AlainK]

My fiancee liked the gingkos so I got a one or two year old sapling from a nursery. It's basically just a twig in the ground at this point.

Any photos ? That would help.

 

[badatusernames]

Any photos ? That would help.

I'll try to remember snap one tomorrow when it's light out, but basically imagine a limbless twig about as thick as a pencil and about a foot and a half to two feet tall sticking out of the ground. We're starting on the first floor with this one

 

[Cadillactaste]

My fiancee liked the gingkos so I got a one or two year old sapling from a nursery. It's basically just a twig in the ground at this point.

My understanding is that making them branch is rather difficult. If I wanted to start working on this as though it were to eventually be something, other than leave it as a twig in a pot, is there anything in particular that would be worth knowing?

My thought it probably to just leave it in the ground for a few years, maybe chop in half or 1/3 (I've not done a trunk chop before so I'm guessing here) in year one, and just let it ride and see what happens, but I'm kind of shooting in the dark.

Ground growing is the best direction to thicken a trunk.

Ryan Neil did a podcast where he mentioned a ginkgo grower told him PH levels were ideal between 6.5-7 to get these to grow branches well.

 

[JoeR]

My fiancee liked the gingkos so I got a one or two year old sapling from a nursery. It's basically just a twig in the ground at this point.

My understanding is that making them branch is rather difficult. If I wanted to start working on this as though it were to eventually be something, other than leave it as a twig in a pot, is there anything in particular that would be worth knowing?

My thought it probably to just leave it in the ground for a few years, maybe chop in half or 1/3 (I've not done a trunk chop before so I'm guessing here) in year one, and just let it ride and see what happens, but I'm kind of shooting in the dark.

Right, as others have said ground growing is best. The tree this thread is focused on was ground grown for at least 5-7 years if I remember right. I dont know him too well, but he seemed nice, so you may even be able to send a message to Scott Lee on Facebook and ask him how he grew it. He's the one that took this from cutting to the first pic in the thread.

Its important to stay on top of them in the ground, though, or else they will just end up a straight, cylindrical trunk thats quite boring for bonsai purposes.

 

[Leo in N E Illinois]

@badatusernames - Ginkgo back bud very reliably on old wood. Even 35 year old, heavily barked up trunks will produce back buds. However they are not "profuse" at back budding. When my Ginkgo tree was collected, it was 25 feet tall with a 4 inch diameter trunk. It was cut down to about 8 inches tall. It was probably 35 years old. Only 5 buds sprouted on the trunk. A reliable back budding, but not a "profuse" back budding. So I am rebuilding a tree from only 5 branches.

For your sapling in the ground. Think about size you want, and diameter you want. Also think about where you would like movement. If you are feeling creative, and you want a change in direction one or two inches off the ground, at some point, this spring, or next spring, you should "chop" it at roughly the level you want the change in trunk direction. It will then back bud. Select a new leader, and let it grow. Keep it in the ground until it has the trunk diameter you need for your final image. It will not bulk up the trunk diameter much at all once lifted and put into a pot. To get maximum diameter as rapidly as possible, you just leave it grow. To get contorted trunk, with zigs and zags, you "trunk chop" low and frequently. This will drastically slow down the bulking up of the trunk diameter. Good ground growing is a balance between the two approaches, and largely depends on the final size you are looking for.

I would probably not do my "first trunk chop" until the trunk diameter was greater than 2 inches (5 cm). I would shoot for a final trunk diameter of 3 or 4 inches, and a final tree height of anywhere from 8 inches to 36 inches. The taller size would need a larger trunk diameter to look good.

 

[badatusernames]

@badatusernames - Ginkgo back bud very reliably on old wood. Even 35 year old, heavily barked up trunks will produce back buds. However they are not "profuse" at back budding. When my Ginkgo tree was collected, it was 25 feet tall with a 4 inch diameter trunk. It was cut down to about 8 inches tall. It was probably 35 years old. Only 5 buds sprouted on the trunk. A reliable back budding, but not a "profuse" back budding. So I am rebuilding a tree from only 5 branches.

For your sapling in the ground. Think about size you want, and diameter you want. Also think about where you would like movement. If you are feeling creative, and you want a change in direction one or two inches off the ground, at some point, this spring, or next spring, you should "chop" it at roughly the level you want the change in trunk direction. It will then back bud. Select a new leader, and let it grow. Keep it in the ground until it has the trunk diameter you need for your final image. It will not bulk up the trunk diameter much at all once lifted and put into a pot. To get maximum diameter as rapidly as possible, you just leave it grow. To get contorted trunk, with zigs and zags, you "trunk chop" low and frequently. This will drastically slow down the bulking up of the trunk diameter. Good ground growing is a balance between the two approaches, and largely depends on the final size you are looking for.

I would probably not do my "first trunk chop" until the trunk diameter was greater than 2 inches (5 cm). I would shoot for a final trunk diameter of 3 or 4 inches, and a final tree height of anywhere from 8 inches to 36 inches. The taller size would need a larger trunk diameter to look good.

thank you that makes sense!

 

[JoeR]

@Brian Van Fleet , I think it was a post of yours I read that talked about going too long between repots for your ginkgo, resulting in the trees growth slowing. Repotted this one last month, and what do you know- it responded by exploding with new growth. Way stronger than previous years. So I'd agree, ginkgo need repotted consistently- likely every year or two.

Just phone pictures, but I'm going to thin the foliage and take better pictures later this week

 

[Carol 83]

@Brian Van Fleet , I think it was a post of yours I read that talked about going too long between repots for your ginkgo, resulting in the trees growth slowing. Repotted this one last month, and what do you know- it responded by exploding with new growth. Way stronger than previous years. So I'd agree, ginkgo need repotted consistently- likely every year or two.

Just phone pictures, but I'm going to thin the foliage and take better pictures later this week

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Were you drinking for the last photo, or did you just fall down?

 

[AlainK]

All the ginkgos here (mine and those in parks) were beginning to push out their new leaves when there was a cold spell, frost for a couple of days.
I wondered how they would take it and I was a bit worried for mine, but they all made it. After all, ginkgo is said to be the only tree that survived at Hiroshima.
March 24th, a tree in a park that was just recovering, and on the same day, one of mine :





Now mine are just beginning to show their autumn colours :





I don't know what I will do with 'Saratoga' : either find a bigger pot and keep it as a "patio tree", or air-layer the top.
Not sure.
I wonder.

Maybe there's something to "enhance" from the colomnar shape and the very narrow leaves, I haven't found "the" idea yet...

 

[AlainK]

It hadn't been repotted for a few years and the pot was too small. I don't have an oval pot the right size, so I just put it in this rectangular Chinese-made pot :



I know that a lot of people like the "flame" style, but I don't really fancy it. For instance, there's one in a park that is at least 100 years old, and I like this shape much better :

 

[AlainK]

Same problem with my 'Saratoga', just couldn't find the right pot, so I just levelled the soil with pine bark.

I think I'll try to air-layer it so I can have two.

1 : air-layer, 2: pulling up the branch to make a new leader :

 

[Cajunrider]

@Joe R ...is this your chosen front?
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Back to look at the bark...is it just not amazing!?!
Your photo of the bark...surprised not many commenting on your thread. But...one either hates or loves a ginkgo I think. But I've read that Ginkgo tends to be many favorite on their bench for what it offers if they have one. How can one not love that bark? Not possible...
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Sweet tree.