Rev Up Your Curb Appeal- Plant a Ginkgo Tree

By Trish Faber

     While it’s great to spend all your time and money improving the interior of your home, don’t forget about the exterior and gardens, especially if you’re looking to sell sometime in the future.  After all, this is where first impressions are made.  Make a bold statement and plant a Ginkgo tree on your front lawn.  Virtually extinct in the wild, the Ginkgo tree has long been a mainstay in the gardens of China and Japan but is gaining in popularity around the globe.

     Best known for the herbal medicinal qualities in the leaves, the tree itself is a gorgeous specimen.  It can reach a height of 30-40m and spread 9m, with its short and long branches growing almost at 90 degree angles, giving the tree an irregular but majestic shape.

     Initially the tree is a slow grower.  It can take 10-12 years to grow to a height of 7m and 20 years before it has a rounded shape but if you had a lifespan of 1000 years, you’d take your time as well.  What’s great about the Ginkgo tree is its low maintenance and adaptability.  Perfect for the busy homeowner, especially if gardening might not be your speciality.

    The Ginkgo is hardy in climate zones 3 to 9 which basically covers Iceland to Australia, so unless you live at the North Pole you’re probably safe to plant.  Even if your climate has snow and ice storms, the Ginkgo tree has shown incredible tolerance.  It’s resistant to insects, pests and to fungal, viral and bacterial diseases.  Research also shows that the Ginkgo tree readily adapts to elevated levels of CO2, commonly known as greenhouse gases and is tolerant of sulphur dioxide pollution making it an ideal choice for a city lined street.  This hardy plant even survived the intense radioactive radiation caused by the atomic bomb dropped on Japan in World War II.

     Perhaps the biggest selling point for the Ginkgo tree is its beauty.  Deep green fan shaped leaves turn a brilliant golden yellow in the fall.  The colour contrast against the exterior of your home is breath taking.  It seems to hold its leaves until almost the first snowfall, providing an extended season of colour while all the other trees in the neighbourhood are bare.

     Plant a Ginkgo tree in your front yard and your home will become a ‘drive-by’ destination, even on the coldest days of winter.  The uneven branches look like spooky fingers and are strong enough to support the weight of ice and snow without breaking or bending.  It truly is an incredible tree.  Besides, it’s good to know that if your house gets demolished in the aftermath of an atom bomb, there’s a good chance that your Ginkgo will still be standing.  Now that’s what I call curb appeal.

(with information gathered from ‘The Ginkgo Pages’)