Ginkgo biloba 'Shangri-La' is a living relic, the only surviving member of an ancient plant group that inhabited Earth up to 150 million years ago. This deciduous tree grows 40 to 50 feet tall and 20 to 30 feet wide, thriving in hardiness zones 3 through 8. Its distinctive two-lobed, fan-shaped leaves are rich green in summer, transforming to brilliant yellow each fall. Incredibly resilient, it tolerates clay soil, heavy shade, urban pollution, and deer browsing, making it an outstanding choice for street plantings, hedgerows, or as a specimen shade tree.
Full Sun
Moderate
3-8
600in H x 360in W
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Moderate
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The fan-shaped leaves with their nearly parallel veins create an instantly recognizable silhouette that turns luminous yellow in autumn. Few trees can claim a 150-million-year lineage or handle the rigors of city streets with such grace. Ginkgo requires virtually no pruning or pest management, making it genuinely low-maintenance despite its impressive stature. Its ability to thrive in compacted, contaminated urban soils while remaining untouched by deer and disease is nearly unmatched among large shade trees.
Ginkgo serves primarily as a landscape and urban tree. Its upright form and moderate spread make it excellent for street tree plantings where overhead clearance is needed. It functions beautifully as a shade tree for larger gardens and parks, providing dappled light while casting dramatic yellow fall color. Its tolerance of poor urban soils, compaction, and air pollution makes it the tree of choice for naturalizing in degraded sites and city parks.
No timeline data available yet for this variety.
Plant container-grown or balled-and-burlapped trees in spring or fall in full sun. Ensure adequate spacing to accommodate mature size of 40 to 50 feet tall and 20 to 30 feet wide.
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“Ginkgo biloba stands as a botanical time capsule. This species is the sole survivor of an entire plant family that dominated landscapes during the age of dinosaurs. While it vanished from most of the world, ginkgos persisted in remote parts of China and Japan, where monks cultivated them in temple gardens for centuries. Eastern gardeners recognized the tree's resilience and longevity, and when Western botanists encountered it in the 18th century, they were captivated by its alien beauty and prehistoric pedigree. The tree's common name, maidenhair, references the resemblance of its leaves to the delicate fronds of maidenhair ferns. From temple groves to modern urban forestry, ginkgo has journeyed from a living fossil to one of the most planted trees in contemporary cities worldwide.”