Ginko Biloba, Not in My Garden but Should Be

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The Ginkgo tree is one plant I don’t have in my garden but have wanted for a long time. The reason is simple, it has great fall color. When I was in college there were two amazing ginkgo trees on the campus. Each fall (I won’t tell you how many falls I spent there!) it would brighten into a beautiful golden color, far brighter than any other tree in the area. I would take the route by the trees to my classes just to catch a glimpse of these ancient wonders, for ancient they are. The ginkgo tree has been around a long time, scientists estimate that they are part of a family of plants that existed over 200 million years ago. According to Wikipedia they owe part of their survival to Chinese monks who cultivated them around their monasteries believing them to be sacred trees. It would not be hard to figure out why they treated them with great respect. Not only is the fall color fantastic but the spring and summer canopy is filled with some very interesting fan shaped leaves.


There is one thing you need to watch out for before planting these trees, they are dioecious. Dioecious plants are either male or female, not both. The same is true with hollies but there is a slightly more sinister aspect to this fact as it relates to ginkgos. The females are stinky! Sorry girls it’s just a fact of ginkgo life. The females produce a fruit that when it falls will smell very much like “rancid butter or feces,” at least according to Wikipedia. According to my wife if you happen to be in the Humanities Plaza at UT Knoxville when the female ginkgo trees are fruiting it smells like something died. Much like the UT Vols football season. Suffice it to say it doesn’t smell good! In this case it’s OK to be sexist and just plant a male.

Oh, I almost forgot! An extract made from the leaves of the ginkgo is reported to have memory enhancing properties. I’d better investigate that further…

Despite the minor odoriferous inconvenience the ginkgo is one that I wish I had in our garden. The one pictured in this post belongs to my parents. It’s small now but will grow to between 60-115 feet tall over a time span that could be several hundred years! It’s a long lived tree with an ancient history. Wouldn’t it look great in my garden?

8 thoughts on “Ginko Biloba, Not in My Garden but Should Be”

  4. I think it would be an enhancement to your garden, Dave. I love that color & the shape of the leaves makes it the most unusual tree.

  6. Go for it! We have a young ginkgo tree and I love everything about it– color, branching habit, leaf shape and longevity.

    I knew about the stinking fruit of the female tree when we bought it, but it takes 20-25 years before you can determine if it is male or female–and only by its production of fruit. I figure I may not be here then, so the next owners will have to worry about it!

  7. I love the fan shaped leaves. I remember these from my college days as well – but it was the female trees that lined that street in Pittsburgh and I can attest to their stinkiness!

  8. I grew up with a huge Ginkgo in the front yard! Probably the largest in Clarksville at the time but when we moved, the new owners pruned it back. ARggggg. It was a fun tree for us kids as all the leaves fell practically over night. We would use them as a skating rink down the sidewalk as they were slippery! Heavy and a pain in the butt to rake too but we all loved that Ginkgo.

    The last time I was home we went by the old house and walked around a bit. I noticed several Rail Road spikes driven into the tree. We think to kill it but doubt that will work as that tree is still huge! Was a male as it did not smell at all…

    I saw a fossil of a gingko leaf in the Smithsonian in DC and also Ginkgos are growing behind the White House which is the side we always see on TV…

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