Saturday, May 31, 2008

Ginkgos

The is the largest of 3 ginkgo seedlings in the yard. Ning started it about 8 years ago in a flowerpot, from seeds that my Dad collected in Quincy Illinois. The parent tree was in the yard of Herman Deege, who taught me about the ancient heritage of the ginkgo trees, and told me that they were deciduois but more closely related to conifers, and taught me that they came in 2 sexes. I was 10 years old at the time. When it looked like this tree might not flourish in the flower pot, I planted it in the ground. It has the advantage of lots of nutrients, since it is in the area that the dogs use for their bodily functions. It is also watered during the summer, for the same reasons.

This tree is the same age, but was planted in the ground one or two years after the first, for the same reason. This year I fed it with fish emulsion and compost. The cat was using the compost mulch for her litter box, so I mulched it with thistles, which seems to have corrected that behavior quite nicely. It has grown about 9 inches so far this year.

I am somewhat of a ginkgoholic. There are 3 seed-grown young trees planted in the yard, with intent to grow into full sized trees, and multiple seedlings in flower pots. I don't know what I will do with those.

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