My Dad's Ginkgo biloba tree at 20 years of age. 10.21.18

Male Ginkgo biloba, grown from seed,, at 20 years old.  10.21.18

 This tree has grown into a magnificent specimen.  There is more risk planting a seedling ginkgo tree in town, because people don't like the stinky seed coats and cut them down.  That's a shame.  fortunately, this tree has proven itself to be a male, based on my observation of the flower catkins over the past few years.

Some day, we expect to sell the old place.  Anticipating that, a few years ago I cut grafting scion from lower twigs of this tree, and grafted them to rootstocks grown from locally collected seeds.  Of those, 2 took but only one survived planting.  I'll sho that later.  That tree has taken hold and is now about 5 feet tall.   Along way to go before it is this magestic, but a hopeful development.

I'll intend to post photos of the other ginkgo trees later.  This is the best of the lot.  My dad collected the seeds in his neighborhood in Quincy, Illinois, and gave me the seeds.  I sprouted those in flowerpots and when I moved to Vancouver, WA, three of those seedlings moved with me.  One of the others is at our country place in Battle Ground, WA, and the other did not survive transplanting there.

Same tree at about 8 years old. 

Planting Ginkgo Seeds. 11.14.16

Planting ginkgo seeds.  11.14.16

I decided to plant the ginkgo seeds that I collected without cleaning off the punguent seed coat.  It's not that difficult, but I just wanted to get them planted.

These are from 2 female trees about 3 miles apart from my part of Vancouver WA.  They are different source from the ones that I obtained 3 years ago.  The aim is for genetic diversity.

Most references state the seeds need to be cleaned before planting.  I don't know why.  Maybe they will grow, maybe not.

I am planting directly in the kitchen garden, no refridgeration or scarification.

Effect of trimming tree seedling roots, ginkgo biloba. 5.19.15

The ginkgo seedling on the left, is the same age as the other two.  I was unable to dig it up with intact roots, last fall.  It had almost no roots.  I kept it potted, and did not prune the top.  The other two were smaller, and I was able to dig the roots intact.

The two with intact roots are growing fast, with elongating main stem and large leaves.  The one with almost no roots, survived, but growth is very limited.  The limitation of roots has resulted in limitation of leaf size and stem elongation.  It will be interesting to see if it catches up, this year or next year.

Propagation Progress Report. Trees and Shrubs. 11.9.14

Forsythia Cutting at about 10 months.  11.9.14

Ginkgo biloba seedlings at about 2 years.  11.9 .14

Laburnum Cutting at about 2 years.  11.9.14

Today I dug up some of the starts I had around the yard  Some were in a vegetable bed that I want to re-orient to vegetables next spring.  Some were in a hedge row and had been chewed by herbivores (Laburnums).  The gingkos needed to come out of the iris raised bed before the roots extended past the chicken wire bottom.

I planted one forsythia start where I dug out the laburnums.  The other is shown here.  I repotted with intent to give more TLC next year for faster growth.

Similar for the ginkgo seedlings.  These have good root systems.

One laburnum was especially chewed up.  So much for them being toxic and repelling herbivores.  The other had more roots than expected for size.

Not bad for not trying all that hard.  Especially the forsythias - all I did with those was stick dormant prunings into the ground, late winter.

Laburnum Cutting at about 2 years.  11.9.14

Repotted Plant Starts.  11.9.14

GInkgo biloba Tree. Started from seed approx 1996. 11.4.14

This is my favorite time of leaf color change for ginkgo.  When there is green and yellow in each leaf.  The yellow coloration starts at the outer margin, and works its way proximally to the stem.

My dad gave me the seed for this tree in about 1996 or 1997.  I started it in a flower pot when I lived in Chicago, and brought it to Vancouver WA in 2000. 

This is my favorite of all trees.

Transplanting ginkgo seedling. 10.18.14

Ginkgo seedling.  10.18.14

 This was one of the ginkgo seedlings growing in a raised bed for irises.  Because of the mesh bottom of the beds, I was unable to get some of the roots.  Maybe most of the roots.   This is almost at the stage of being a rooted cutting.  Fall is a good time to plant, because it will not be hot, it will stay moist, and have a chance to grow some roots during the fall and spring.

It may not survive.  That's OK.  I have other, smaller seedlings.

I tried to prune off the slightly ragged base, but I think I caused more harm than good.


Ginkgo seedling roots.  10.18.14

It's planted in the location where the dead madrone was.  The madrone never took off, I left it in the ground but it has been a dead stick all year.

Ginkgo seedling.  10.18.14