Ginkgo and a trunk chop? what would you do?

Neild

Question on a ginkgo.

I have one around 7 ft tall, no branches below where I want to chop, all the branches start about 3-4 ft up. I want to chop to about 12" above the soil line.

If there are no branches below the chop, will these trees reliably send up new leaders to train

It is currently balled/burlapped. I will unwrap break up the outer ball and place in a larger pot surrounding the root ball with bonsai soil and let it grow for a year to recover from the chop. Year two I will reduce the root mass and plant in a training pot.

thoughts on if this is or is not correct??

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DougDT

Ginkgo are very, very, slow to cover wounds, so make sure when you do the deed that you inspect the roots and pick a front. That way you can hide the wound in the back. I would chop now if the tree has branches below the chop site. Because yours has no low branches, I would wait a week or two after the new growth hardens off to chop it. I might trim back the upper branches to a node or two now hoping that it would encorage budding lower down on the trunk.

I chopped mine, oh 4 years ago, and it has started to cover the wound but still has a long, long, way to go. This one has two chops one in the back and one on the front

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johnbonsai

Hi there Neild, I did just what you're proposing two seasons ago. My tree had healthy looking dormant buds, low down and I could n't be bothered with air layering so it got the chop. I did n't touch the roots till the following year where I did n't remove too much, and planted it in a training pot. Now I'am feeling that I want to chop it down again to an 11 inch trunk! However don't be in too much of a hurry, cut it in spring when the buds are swelling and plan for the dormant buds to develop and consider the disguise of the cut as mentioned, good luck!

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ChicagoBlues

Hi guys,

I uprooted an almost dead ginkgo last year in summer from my brother's yard hoping to revive it, and I potted it in a gallon pot. For around two months it did not show any sign of life, when one day I decided to throw it in the garbage, and then I noticed a green node an inch above the base.

I then decided to help the tree in its fight to survive, and chopped off the tree from right above the node. After that the node sprouted into a few leaves before going dormant in winter. Recently, around two weeks ago, I repotted this stump in a training pot, and now I am scared of the spring frosts that Chicago can bring.

Do you guys think it was the right time to repot, and if it wasn't how do I make sure it gets maximum growth opportunities?