- Author: Patricia Matteson
Ancient plants fascinate me. I've written about horsetails and magnolias for Seeds for Thought, the UCCE Master Gardeners newsletter of Solano Co., but it wasn't until I researched and wrote about ginkgo trees (Winter 2021, https://solanomg.ucanr.edu/newsletters/Seeds_for_Thought87791.pdf, pp. 2-3) that I had to have a particular ancient plant. That article devoted a lot of space to the rich botanical, cultural, religious, and medical significance of Ginkgo biloba, but its beauty and toughness were what hooked me.
Beauty mattered, of course. Ginkgoes are beautiful, especially in autumn. Their lovely, distinctive foliage turns a bright, clear gold. The color change comes almost all at once, after which the leaves tend to fall simultaneously, creating a golden carpet.
Much more important, however, was the mystique of planting a tree on one's own property. It is a hopeful gesture in the face of the threat posed by climate change. Ginkgoes can live for hundreds and even thousands of years, and one could not choose a more rugged traveling companion for a lifetime and beyond. Ginkgo trees can withstand high temperatures and air pollution, are resistant to wind and fire, and rarely suffer from diseases or insect pests. On top of all that, they will grow in full sun or part shade, and tolerate many soil types and acid or alkaline soil conditions. Our Suisun City lot has awful soil—clay studded with cement chunks and boulders--and in summer there is part shade, but those drawbacks didn't seem like deal-breakers.
The real deal-breaker, which delayed me for a year, was not being able to find a tree that wouldn't outgrow the space available in our small front yard. Many ginkgo cultivars grow large—over 100 feet tall, and up to two-thirds as wide. It was distressing to think of a future owner destroying a wonderful tree in its youth because I didn't have the foresight to plant it in the right place. In winter 2021 I started searching for dwarf ginkgo cultivars, and was disappointed to find that no local nursery was selling them.
After more research, I pestered Lemuria Nursery in Dixon to order Ginkgo biloba ‘JN9' Sky Tower, which—in spite of its name—grows only 20 feet high and 10 feet wide. Since February, Lemuria has had three- and six-foot trees available! I took home and planted a tiny, twiggy Sky Tower that was still in its deep winter sleep, and waited anxiously for it to leaf out. Now it is covered with rosettes of fan-like leaves. I admire it almost every day. If doting attention supports plant health and growth, the little tree should do well.
