Feeding Ginkgo Trees With Lime - November 2023

Posting this a little bit late, but I checked-off a new (to me) seasonal activity:  feeding our ginkgos with lime.   I had a bag of Organic Garden Lime from Espoma that (on the bag) bills itself as being able to change color of Hydrangea blooms - "Turns Hydrangeas Pink".    I took the bag and sprinkled a heavy hand at the base of the Spring Grove Ginkgos on either side of our stoop.  I also fed the Saratoga Ginkgo in the front yard, the Ginkgo tree that arrived cracked-in-half that I planted in the backyard and the same variety that the online nursery sent as a replacement that is IB2DWs extended (now in the conifer garden).  

5 Ginkgo trees, two of which are dwarfs - all (according to this post from Mr. Maple) want alkaline soil:

One great tip with Ginkgo that is different from a lot of other trees is that Ginkgo love a more alkaline soil, so by giving them lime when you're planting them and lime throughout the season, you help this plant get established and take up water and nutrients way more efficiently.

A tip from Tim and Matt's friends in Japan is to use pelletized garden lime. This will help increase the growth rate on your Ginkgo trees.

...Lime itself is not a fertilizer, instead what it does is it allows the plant to take up water and nutrients more efficiently due to the lime changing the soil's pH to the correct pH for the Ginkgo's roots to perform best at. Lime is not a fertilizer, but it helps plants take up the fertilizer more efficiently.

Lime works not only with regular sized Ginkgo trees, but with Dwarf Ginkgo as well. It will grow faster and more full.

It isn't a fertilizer, but helps the tree take up nutrients better/faster.  

I've included (#16) on my annual to-do list to keep up with 'seasonal projects' - including feeding roses, collecting tree seeds, etc.  Adding "Lime'ing the Ginkgos" to that list going forward.  

While I'm thinking about Ginkgos, I thought that I'd run by a few 'interesting' Ginkgos that I've come across this season that are on my 'want list'.  Of course...the Spring Groves that I stumbled upon at the orange big box store were a real treat, so if there are more/different Witches Brooms that show up, all bets are off.  Until then...a few that are appealing:

1.  Beijing Gold.  Dwarf, variegated.  Gets 8-10 feet tall at 10 years.  

2.  Jehosephat.  A true dwarf.  Just 3-4 feet tall at 10 years.

3.  Pendula.  A weeping, but more umbrella-like Ginkgo.  Gets 8-9 feet tall at 10 years. 

4.  Akebono.  An upright, columnar Ginkgo. Gets 10 feet tall in 10 years, but only 4-5 feet wide.

5.  Mariken.  A dwarf that appears to be sort-of lollipop'd in the photos.