Ginkgo Day in Louisville

By the power vested in me (as a citizen running around taking pictures on an overcast day in November), I declare it so.

Starting off at Boone Square Park with a couple of old codgers...

you still got alot a leaves daown thar.

Next stop: a stalwart citizen on a construction site.

Lookeethair:

Well, yes we do, at least in places.

Cruising right along to Eastern Parkway, here's a group that has lived a rough life.

Here's a street tree planting at a local business.

The cemeteries are good places to see a few big trees. One in full color...

...and one in the military section that still has a lot of green.

This cemetery has some peculiar individuals. These forms are the result of decades of pruning to prevent fruiting on significantly-located female trees.

I call them "stubbies".

This picture shows how big the previous one would be; note the adjoining unpruned male tree to the right.

Since this is taking incredibly long (per picture) to load up, I'm taking a dinner break.

The goal in this montage is to illustrate the variety of ways that Ginkgo biloba expresses itself, and how it is used or can be used in myriad landscapes.

Stay tuned.

how do you tell male/female I mean without the smell

Levilyla, Are you really playing the "straight man" here? I can think of a few answers, but I am sure I would get nuked. :>}

This female tree is next door to the famous Derby Eve party held every May.

This specimen fully occupies the front yard space available in Louisville's Belknap neighborhood.

Atherton High School (where Mabel Slack of the Parrotia thread elsewhere on this forum plied her teaching trade), is awash in ginkgos.

Here is one large one.

Another one at Atherton High School, but an unfortunately placed female tree. Annual load of fruit disgorged onto the road, and its fragrance is naught but unmistakeable.

Wow, that Derby Eve Party female gingko looks very similar to mine. Note how it has a split trunk, and that each trunk then mirrors the other in branching pattern.

Scott

Where are the words to describe...

...the form, the texture, the delicacy...

...which begs one to take it in hand, gently, softly...and watch it be whisked away at once, with winter.

I thought it was your tree Scott. Same size and same laterals opposite with both leaders. VV thank you that was a treat for those of us who have only begun to plant Ginkgo. Why were you Kentuckians so far ahead of us in planting such a wonderful tree?

This message was edited Nov 4, 2006 10:35 PM

Beautiful pictures...now I want one...but no place to plant it.

Rebellia,

Get a dwarf! Dybuk, God bless him, can you direct you to the very finest one.

Scott

Oh please...which one?

Well it's hard for me to pick a favorite of the dwarf Ginkgos, but here are some good ones.

Tubifolia...Tubular funnel shaped leaves mixed within regular leaves.
Matthew...True dwarf. Stays very small with tight dense growth.
Chase Manhattan...Narrow dense habit.
Jade Butterflies...Vase shaped little tree with interesting leaf arrangements--hence the name.


Good luck!

VV- your next official duty is to stake out one of those and video the leaf fall, as discussed elsewhere recently.

Would 'twer it possible. The rains after the cloudy photo day took down leaves for this year.

VV - Drive south young man.

imagine my surprise to realize that a shopping center near me has about three dozen young ginkgos planted around. I hadn't paid much attention to them, but having just read this, noticed them today. first commercial use of them (that I've noticed around here)

We use them all the time here in commercial and public right-of-way plantings. They can tolerate gawd awful conditions and take a long time to get very large. The perfect tree for many applications, never mind how cool they are. I still have not even noticed any problems with root disturbance and ginkgos. I have had large excavations immediately adjacent to them and still have not seen any ill effects from it. Maybe I'll go for a drive and double check that statement. The only ginkgo I had to remove lost a fight with a backhoe. Poor little guy. I bet he would have made it anyways.

Bill

This message was edited Nov 6, 2006 4:17 PM

My affection for Ginkgos is weak and this whole thread is making me feel inferior. Don't get me wrong, I think they're OK (I've got one), but I just don't view them with the same reverance that everyone else seems to. What is wrong with me? I'm afraid I may need some sort of sensitivity training to get me over this Ginkgo malaise. I've seen a few that caused me to stand back and take a second look (the best I've seen makes its home in Jonesborough, TN), but the majority I run across are just so....ordinary. I'll crawl back in my hole now.

I feel the same way about Aesculus flava...everyone else seems to love them and I am throwing away the nuts so no more will sprout.

Bob:

I was saving this one. It should have its own thread. You might appreciate it more in person.

Visit Cave Hill Cemetery next time through Louisville.

Here's another view of the big old guy.

That's about 125 feet (37.9 m) wide.

Got trunk?

that is very impressive I must say

VV, I feel like I've been setup. That one is worth more than just a couple of looks. There are several cemeteries I'd like to visit before I become a permanent resident of one, and Cave HIll is certainly on that list. Anyone seen Mount Auburn near Boston?

WOW, VV, great pictures! Is the ginkgo at Cave Hill a male? Imagine the amount of fruit that tree would drop if it's a female!

So, how would I go about transplanting one of those giants into my front yard? I have a shovel handy. I think now is a good time to transplant trees, too! (:o) Anyone want to help?

I sure hope reincarnation exists because I need to come back in one hundred years to look at the trees that I've planted. (Hopefully, the trees will still be standing.)
Mike

Maackia, I have to agree with you. Don't get me wrong, the fall color is gorgeous. But to me the "stiff" branching sometimes looks a little harsh. I think they look better as a single specimen rather than planted in groupings. Our city hall has about 10 of them planted in a line by the front drive and they just don't appeal to me. However, there is one that is in someones front yard that is planted amongst some pines and it looks wonderful.

Mmmm, maybe we should have another thread on over-rated trees. Even better, any ideas on how we can get VV and Decumbent into another tree debate. That was good stuff.