Species · Deciduous trees like maple and elm
Ginkgo
Ginkgo biloba
Ginkgo is a living fossil with a lineage unrelated to any other tree in the catalog, carrying distinctive fan-shaped leaves that turn brilliant gold in a narrow autumn window before dropping almost all at once. Growth is moderate and somewhat awkward to ramify finely, so most ginkgo bonsai lean on trunk character and that one spectacular autumn week.
Care at a glance
- Watering
- Never let it dry out fully in leaf. Roughly every 2 days in spring, 1 in summer, 2 in autumn and 7 in winter.
- Light
- Full sun to light shade.
- Winter
- Hardy once established; loses its leaves and rests through winter. Protect it when the forecast drops below -8 °C.
- Feeding
- Every 14 days, Apr to Sep, paused in the hottest weeks.
- Repotting
- Every 2 to 3 years, as buds swell, in Feb or Mar.
- Growth
- Moderate growth. Hardy in zones 4 to 8.
The work calendar
| Work | JJan | FFeb | MMar | AApr | MMay | JJun | JJul | AAug | SSep | OOct | NNov | DDec |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Prune | Mar | Apr | Nov | |||||||||
| Wire | Jan | Feb | Mar | Nov | Dec | |||||||
| Pinch | May | Jun | Jul | |||||||||
| Defoliate | Jun |