Ginkgo Tree Growth

Size

• Ginkgoes can reach up to 120 feet in height, but they more commonly are seen 50 to 90 feet tall and 30 to 60 feet wide. The largest ginkgoes are thought to occur in China, where they are native. In China, confirmed heights of 140 feet tall are reported. While ginkgo trees do not require regular fertilization and are fairly drought-tolerant, an adequate water supply and occasional fertilizer applications will encourage faster growth, as will proper site conditions and placement away from more competitive plants.

Growth Habit

• In youth, trees are upright with open crowns and regularly spaced branches. Young ginkgo trees have a dominant, single-leader. Crowns become increasingly dense and spreading with age, filling in the open spaces that are characteristic of more juvenile plants. Ginkgo trees will obtain multileaders, as several branches eventually become dominant. Mature ginkgo trees have a wide, oval canopy.

Gender Differences in Growth

• Ginkgo trees are dioecious, meaning that they are distinctly male or female. There are many differences between the two genders, even in terms of growth form. In general, male trees are more upright and narrow in form than female trees. Female ginkgoes are characteristically shorter in height and spreading. Largely this is due to a shifting in resources within female plants from vegetative growth to seed production once sexual maturity is reached, usually when the tree is between 20 and 40 years of age.

Landscape Use

• Ginkgo trees have long been used for street plantings within the urban landscape because of their hardiness, adaptability and beauty. However over time, this large tree is likely to outgrow narrow plantings in many urban landscapes. Avoid planting female ginkgo trees, especially in public places, since they will produce bad-smelling fruit annually during the fall after becoming mature. The most certain way to determine the gender of trees is to purchase one of the male-only ginkgo cultivars.