Gingko biloba

[papillon]

Does anyone have experience of growing gingko trees? I have a couple of babies in pots that I grew from seed but I'm worried about planting them out in the garden. I haven't seen any of the trees growing around here and the seeds were picked up while on holiday about 1500 miles away! We get very cold winters here (-20/-30 degrees centigrade), is it better to keep them in the pots and bring them into a cool room for the winter?

 

[DrCase]

They grows well in Arkansas
Plant it after the last frost and see what it does, hardy to -20 with mulch in winter you might get by

 

[papillon]

We've got snow today, so I'll wait till the beginning of May and plant them somewhere sheltered. Perhaps they'll be ok if I cover them with straw in winter while they're still small. Having got so far, I'd hate to lose them - they are such pretty trees.

 

[Antau LJn]

Does anyone have experience of growing gingko trees? I have a couple of babies in pots that I grew from seed but I'm worried about planting them out in the garden. I haven't seen any of the trees growing around here and the seeds were picked up while on holiday about 1500 miles away! We get very cold winters here (-20/-30 degrees centigrade), is it better to keep them in the pots and bring them into a cool room for the winter?

So, -20 to -30 centigrade translated to Fahrenheit (for those of us who use it) would be -4 to -22 degrees.

Ginkgo can be planted in USDA hardiness zones 4-9 or 3-8, depending on who you talk to.

After a little searching (since I don't have the info memorized), I found this:

ZONE 4 - have winter temperature ranging from -30 F to -20 F
ZONE 5 - have winter temperature ranging from -20 F to -10 F
ZONE 6 - have winter temperature ranging from -10 F to 0 F
ZONE 7 - have winter temperature ranging from -0 F to +10 F
ZONE 8 - have winter temperature ranging from +10 F to +20 F

Thus, it looks like you could probably grow ginkgo in your area, though it may need to be protected during the coldest parts of winter (borderline).

 

[papillon]

Many thanks for that info. It certainly looks like they will grow here. The parent tree was growing near the Mediterranean and we're about 1500 miles away in the mountains. I do have a habit of collecting souvenir plants when I'm on holiday and quite often they are completely unsuitable for growing here. I have also got a banana tree but that will definitely have to stay in a pot.

 

[Antau LJn]

Most definitely, that banana plant has to stay put.

I like to try plants of all kinds, also. Sometimes they grow when they are not supposed to. Sometimes they don't grow when they are supposed to.

My philosophy is, "I don't know unless I've tried."