What?

What's the problem? You want narrow but it was planted for shade? And to me... it fits there.

Darned if I know??? :)

Seriously, I'm lost!

Dax

Yeah, not sure what you are complaining about... but I assume it is the lousy branching of the tree. You want shade, but not a wide tree to provide shade?

I'm not sure why it doesn't bother people, but a lot of these grafted "better" male Ginkgo grow really lousy. Grow at odd angles. Grow slow. Odd branching that is unsymmetrical or unnatural dense branching.

Do some of these grafted trees ever grow normal? A seedling Gingko can have beautiful symmetry. Of course, some trees spread out more than others, each tree is different, but they don't have that dysfunctional look of many of the 'Autumn Gold' grafted trees.

If you don't like the tree, replace it. I'm not sure there is any reason it will start to grow normally any year soon, after 17 years.

This post was edited by noki on Sat, Jun 15, 13 at 15:36

You could certainly prune it (or have it pruned) for shape. I like a little 'awkwardness' but I would be itching to make it more balanced. Ginkgos grow slowly so I would have a hard time taking one out that I had lived with this long...however it's your garden so your rules!

Sara

Looks pretty sweet to me!

Remove the lower wayward horizontal branches to form it up. Cut them back to the foliage line and give it a few years to sort itself out.

One of the most discombobulated ginkgo's I ever saw.

Dave

Thanks for the info on the variability of this cultivar noki. I had read it could be awkward in youth, but had hoped to have an outstanding shade tree by now.

My poorly framed question was how do I make the best of what it is by pruning, or with it's current discombobulated (good description Dave) growth pattern will it never be a particularly good looking tree?

Got caught eying this Ginkgo yesterday evening and was immediately warned by my David "It's finally starting to grow....don't touch it or I'll be mad". However I did get permission to prune and no, it won't be a basal cut!

Thanks for the help,
Barbara

weirder the better for me...

your only complaint.. is that it is not fitting into your preconceived notion of what it ... 'should be' ...

isnt gingko a long lived tree.. and what.. you dont like it at 10 years ... ???

but the bottom line... as always.. if you dont like it.. go at it ... try a little shaping.. and if that doesnt please YOU.. then get rid of it ...

whats your bottom line here??? ... you just cant kill it.. and you want our permission... i dont think so ....

your garden is to make you happy ... and if something is not doing that.. BE DONE WITH IT.. no guilt ... you will plant a replacement .. mother earth.. net zero ...

whatever makes you happy.. JUST DO IT ....

there are plenty of things i have disposed of.. simply because they raised my blood pressure.. every time i looked at it.. finally.. one day i happened to have the saw in my hand when i looked at it.. problem solved.. blood pressure normal .. lol...

ken

ps: would you get rid of a plane/sycamore.. because it took 20 years to get that cool bark????

Would love it to be in my yard, warts and all. As for final appearance...... who knows. They have been around maybe 50 years, and that's a blink to Ginkgo.At least you have a central leader to the top of the picture. Many many many grafted Ginkgo you see, do not even have that, and look more like a fan of branches.

Arktrees

You're right Ken, except I was ready to take it out years ago. What I need is a Spock-like logical reason to convince my husband. Just like TJ's donkey and Dave's clothesline it's staying until my spouse OKs it to go.

Agree with you Arktrees about the top-pruning of certain trees, and wonder too how some of our conifers would look if grown with a central leader rather than a multi-trunk...

Barbara

If you and your Dave can garden together, it will be a better garden. That tree looks fine to me and will sort itself out in time. If some judicious pruning is done, do it so it will make both of you happy.

tj

Autumn Gold is "supposed" to have a conical shape with a strong central leader, with neat symmetrical branches that are more ascending. Your tree doesn't look like that at all. Not sure why some say it looks fine, I guess it is a tree and it has leaves.

Now, in 50-100 years it may not make much difference. You have already invested 17 years of time into the tree, you really want to give up now? Seems like it would take another 20 years to "overgrow" the area, thou I'm not sure what way you are worried about. I just think you want an excuse.

Can you tell if the newest (highest) growth looks good, and that it is growing straight up with upward branches?

Has anyone observed what happens with these oddly shaped grafted Gingkos after 20 years? Do they ever grow normal? I also wonder if some of these trees grow slow because of root problems.

This post was edited by noki on Mon, Jun 17, 13 at 23:38

Thanks for the follow-up noki. I'm sorry that the tone of my original post has caused other responders to focus on my motives rather than providing information and experiences on growing this specific Ginkgo cultivar.

Here is a closer photo of the tree in question:

And another of the top only:

Plus one more taken from a different location:

FWIW,yours is better than most Autumn Gold I have seen. What they are "supposed" to do, and what they DO do, are rarely the same IMHO. That's the nature of Ginkgo. There are some fundamental reasons for this, having to do with the fact that branches when grafted tend to want to remain branches, and not be a central leader, hence the fan shape I mentioned before. IMHO, you are far ahead of the game. And yes it looks fine to me, especially in comparison to how most of them look. But then again, I'm rather practical. Idealism is great for a guide to provide direction to work toward, but rarely capable of solving real world problems.

Arktrees

Barbara,

First photo of your second tree post.

The bottom branch on the left side. Leave.

Second branch left side that is horizontal with slight upward growth. Cut off. Visualize that removed and you will see that the tree presents itself as better balanced in growth. I also see a branch in back of trunk that appears to be a low hanger. Remove what is necessary to get that up where it belongs along with any others to give and even site line looking under and through it.

With that done put the saw away and go with it.

Give us an update if you decide to go with my recommendation.

Dave

Thanks guys! I'll trim it up within the next few days per Dave's recommendations and post an update.

Here's my pruning job....please be kind!

Trimmed off a bit more than recommended as I was going for a stronger framework. Wondering if I should cut back the vigorous vertical shoot on the lower right, and perhaps get out the pole pruner to remove the floppy branches towards to top?

Barbara

This post was edited by barbaraincalif on Thu, Jun 20, 13 at 20:09

I would cut that two foot stub on the lower left and call it quits.
Mike

Wow Barbara you don't mess around! As my dad always says, 'the time to prune is when the tools are sharp'. Nice job.

Sara

It's a work of art!

I learned to prune on grapevines, where 90% of that year's growth is removed and spurs are cut back to two buds....my family fears for a plant when I head towards it with pruning shears in hand!

I considered removing that bottom branch/stub (there are actually two stubs at that level, but one is not visible in the photo) but that would limb the tree up too high in my opinion. Is it best to take them out anyway?

Thanks!

Barbara

I have been doing a lot of limbing up in my garden the last few years. I'd rather limb up 'too high' and not have to do some more right away next year.
I never leave stubs on large branches. Visually, they don't work in my mind. Maybe on grapes it looks Ok, but not in the ornamental garden. I always say stubs are the first sign of an amateur. It is possible to shorten a branch without leaving a stub though.
Mike

I think that the stub should go as it looks too 'stubby'.

The main reason to leave lower limbs on is to help the tree develop trunk girth. Once the tree has matured and has the desired girth, limbing is generally a matter of personal preference or site specific issues such as access, light, etc. but it's also good to keep in mind that in windy sites, for example, trees position branches to give them optimal support from wind.

Thanks for including us in your project, Barbara!

Sara