Ginkgo biloba Overwintering
Answered by: Inge Poot
Question from: ZM Engine
Posted on: November 13, 2001

Some time ago I ordered a package of ginkgo trees and I’d like to know a few things about them - some info seems hard to come by.

I’ve been growing my ginkgo trees indoors now for about 9-10 months quite successfully and I’d like to transfer them to outdoor locations come late spring in 2002. How well do ginkgo’s fare in Canada’s climate year-round? I live in Calgary, Alberta - I plan to plant the trees outside of city limits owing to the female fruiting ‘problem’.

Secondly, I’ve noticed that all of my ginkgos are currently getting yellow-tipped leaves. I cannot explain this. It seems rather sudden; I have had not problems with them in the past - all seem to be hardy individuals; there appear to be no infestations of any kind. I water the soil through a root-watering pot rather than watering on the surface and feed the plants about once a month. They receive the same amount of light at the same intensity every day. Any ideas on what’s happening?

I don’t think that your climate is warm enough for ginkgos to overwinter out of doors. They are winter hardy up to zone 5, but they have survived during the recent mild winters in my zone 4 garden. But i think Calgary is in zone 3 and that might be too cold. If you have 4 mild winters the plants just might harden enough to survive a severe winter, but we cannot recommend leaving them out of doors! It usually takes four years for a plant to develop maximum frost hardiness.

The yellowing of the leaf margins is their reaction to the coming winter and is the time that the leaves are harvested commercially.

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