Saratoga Ginkgo Tree - Summer Update - July 2023

Last Spring, I put in a TINY Saratoga Ginkgo tree in amongst the Little Henry Sweetspire out front.  The height of the Ginkgo was *below* the height of the shrub, so I thought the tree would be allowed to sort-of grow-up in the shadow of the shrub.  The Saratoga is a unique Ginkgo that has longer leaves that most normal/traditional Ginkgo trees.  I didn't pay this tree too much attention over the last year, but it was watered with the sprinkler out front that was hitting the front porch beds, so I think it was watered enough to survive. 

But, how does it look like one year later?  It has put on about six inches of new height.  See below for a photo showing the current state of the Saratoga Ginkgo tree.  It is now emerged above the full height of the Little Henry Sweetspire - by about eight-to-ten inches.    The American Conifer Society suggests that this tree will get to between 12-to-24-feet tall in ten years.  Lets suggest this is the third growing season and I bought a two-year-old seedling.  That means, we should see a foot (or so) of growth every season.  By next Summer, we'll have it two feet above the Sweetspire.  Perhaps Summer 2026 is when this becomes a true 'tree'.  That's...umm...an awful long time, isn't it??

I'm going to swap out the training post to a taller version to keep the leader upright, but we're getting (soon) to the point where this becomes an *actual tree*, instead of more of a seedling.  Summer 2026 can't come soon enough.