Ginkgo biloba Autumn Gold - shape and cuttings?

manuela2008

16 years ago

Hi,

I've planted in November a Ginkgo biloba Autumn Gold and I'm not sure I chose the right place for it , after seeing many pictures of such trees when they grow up. It is a 6'5" tall tree and its shape can be seen in this picture :

http://i79.photobucket.com/albums/j142/Emma_house/Trees%20in%20my%20garden/ginkgo.jpg

I would like to know if I can cut the lower branches , to form it's crown higher maybe? Right now it's planted in the middle of my garden and I'm thinking it's not the best choice if he'll form its crown from so low. Should I move it in the back of the garden? Advices are most welcome !

Oh , I also must say that I live in Romania , if that matters.

Thank you very much!

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Comments (8)

lucy
16 years ago
If you cut lower branches, it'll keep the bottom of the trunk skinny and weak. It's the lower ones that help fatten it up and then it'll taper higher up. At least leave a couple lower down even if in 10 years you decide to cut them. Don't forget your tree will get taller, and take the branches with it - they won't all be low down once it's matured. The estimate of 6'5" tall is just an estimate, and it's quite possible that it will be taller (and fairly wide - needing a strong trunk).
conifers
16 years ago
Heritage Seedlings: "Not as strongly upright as 'Fastigiata'..." You'll simply have to decide where it would best fit in your gardening scheme. Obviously if you garden very close to where you planted it and don't want shade way later down the road, you better move it. We don't know enough details and it should be a common sense answer for you anyway.

Dax
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I'm so sorry bboy, but is it like wide at the bottom and thin at the top? or wide on top and thinner at the bottom?
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Try using Google Street View to look for El Abra Way and Lincoln Avenue, San Jose, CA - maybe the original tree is still standing there. Otherwise it wasn't introduced until 1955 so there aren't going to be any fully developed examples in other locations, even if the one in San Jose is in fact old enough to be considered "mature" - seed-raised ginkgoes for instance may not even reach flowering age until after 45 years.
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treelover3
16 years ago
Since Ginkgo biloba is such a slow growing tree, I would leave it for a while. I may have read Lucy's post wrong, but a tree's branches always stay at the level they are at; the branches do not move up the trunk as the tree grows taller.

A Ginkgo can live for over a thousand years so they don't grow fast at all. Let the tree develop for a few years and then decide what to do. Once you remove a branch, it's gone permanently and it cannot be reattached to the tree. (:o)
Good luck - Ginkgos are great trees.
Mike
ken_adrian Adrian MI cold Z5
16 years ago
you said.. planted in November ... may we presume it was dormant.. and basically went to sleep for the winter?

if so ... then i would default to this logic for this year:

more leaves generate more food, generate more energy to grow more roots for faster 'establishment' ... mulch it well and keep it properly watered all year .... next year in drought only ...

personally .. i like my trees ... pruned up ... to avoid poking my eyes out ... but as noted.. its all about personal preference ...

in late fall .. as the tree is going dormant.. or at the proper time .... i would remove everything below the duct tape... and i would remove the tape ASAP .... i might just slice it with a razor where it is NOT on the tree .... and leave it there until it falls off itself ... rather than risk ... peeling off the bark ...

and i would study the tree closely .. and remove any smaller branches that have improper crotches .... since it is much easier to do this when they are tiny rather than big ... i cant tell from the picture.. but behind the stake.. you might have 2 or 3 or 4 leaders .... another picture..... will get you some opinions regarding that ....

its a new transplant... this year.. proper watering is really the only issue.. IMHO ... and some mulch ... to temper soil problems ... like drought.. heat.. etc ...

good luck

ken

PS: on PREVIEW MESSAGE ... right below the box you type in ... is an area for LINKS .... that is where you would paste in the link to your picture....
treelover3
16 years ago
Manuela,
You might also want to check on how deep the tree is planted. The root collar should be at or slightly above soil level. If the tree looks like a telephone pole going into the ground, chances are the tree has been planted too deep (and it kind of looks like this from your picture).

Scratch the soil away from the top of the root ball until you get to where the roots start on the trunk of the tree. That's the root collar and that point should be at or slightly above soil level.

It looks like you purchased a nice tree and as Ken has stated you may need to trim a few of the branches back to you only have one leader on the tree.

Also, don't have the tree staked so tightly that the tree does not move at all. A little movement will actually make the tree stronger. You just don't want the tree flopping in the wind and rocking the root ball so roots are breaking.
Good luck,
Mike
noki
16 years ago
The tree is certainly a mess of branches compared to how they prune them for sale. The usually prune the lower branches. You could let the tree grow naturally, but then grafted trees don't really grow that naturally at first anyway, so I don't know how natural this is.

Do the lower branches really grow "upwards" with the tree, as the tree grows? Like where the branch connects will go from 2 feet high to 8 feet high?
krazyaroider
16 years ago
"Do the lower branches really grow "upwards" with the tree, as the tree grows? Like where the branch connects will go from 2 feet high to 8 feet high?"

Branches on trees remain where they grow permanently. A branch that is three feet from the ground will remain three feet from the ground, unless it is trimmed off.

The same is true with a nail or sign placed on a tree. The tree will grow around it as the trunk expands with age, but it will remain at the same height forever.
Embothrium
16 years ago
Plants of this cultivar seen here grow in a vase-like shape, like the 'Kanzan' Japanese cherry.

Ginkgo biloba Autumn Gold - shape and cuttings?

Comments (8)

lucy

conifers

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