Monday, October 15, 2012

Tale of Two Ginkgos

These 2 trees are the same age, grown from seed from the same parent. They were started from seed collected by my Dad, about 13 years ago.
This tree was planted in the ground about 11 years ago.  This is my back yard.  The tree first spent about 2 years of growing in a flower pot. I'm guessing about 20 or 25 feet tall.  It's a beautiful tree.  I'm proud of it.  This area of yard is the dogs' "restroom".  They pee and poop here daily.  The poop gets cleaned up, mostly, although some is missed.  It gets watered weekly or every other week, to rinse the grass and ground to prevent odor.  The watering, and the nitrogen from the dog urine and feces, have resulted in rapid strong growth.

This photo is taken today.  The leaves remain dark green.

The trunk is too big for my hand to reach around.
The leaves have the typical bilobar appearance for ginkgo.  As a younger tree, the leaves were larger and had a deeper cleft.
This tree is the same age, from the same source at the same time. It was kept in a container for one additional year, and planted in the front yard. It gets watered occasionally, but not nearly as often as the tree in the back yard. Like that tree, it's basically in the full sun.  No "doggie special treats."   It's much smaller than the first tree.  About 10 feet tall, so less than half as tall.

This photo is also taken today.  The leaves are already bright yellow.
I can easily grasp this trunk.  No where near the diameter as its twin.
The leaves are similar size and morphology.  Beautiful leaves.
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I think the entire difference in growth and leaf senescence is due to the doggie fertilizer and watering.      There has been no chemical fertilizer and no other difference that I can see.

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