The Ginkgo Trees in Fall

November 11, 2025

I have thousands and thousands of trees at my farm. Many were already well-established when I purchased the property, but the rest I've planted - in allées, in groves, as privacy hedges, around my pool, and in rows of my living maze. One type of tree, however, stands out this time every year - the ginkgo.

Ginkgo biloba, commonly known as ginkgo or gingko, and also known as the maidenhair tree, is the only living species in the division Ginkgophyta. It is found in fossils dating back 270-million years. Native to China, the ginkgo tree is widely cultivated, and was cultivated early in human history. Ginkgo trees have beautiful green leaves that turn a luminous golden-yellow in autumn. This time of year, the female trees also start dropping their fruits. Ginkgo nuts are a delicacy in China, Japan, and Korea, and are prized for their flavor, nutritional value, and medicinal properties.

Here are some photos, enjoy.

: These six Ginkgo biloba Goldspire™ Obelisk trees surround my pool. I planted the narrow upright tower trees in the spring of last year and I am so pleased with how they are doing.

: In early October, one could see the slight change to the color of the leaves – here they’re just beginning to turn.

: Now in November, these trees are golden yellow and their leaves are falling. Ginkgo Goldspire™ is a highly ornamental, non-fruiting male tree originating in Italy. It has a very upright, tight fastigiate habit.

: The foliage of these trees also tends to be smaller than other species.

: These ginkgo trees are in my sunken Summer House garden. The giant tree in the back is a female and the main focal point of this formal space. Here they have also changed colors – there is only a little tinge of green on the trees.

: The change of color happens after the breakdown of chlorophyll, the pigment responsible for the green. As the days get shorter and temperatures drop, plants prepare for winter by shutting off chlorophyll production.

: Within weeks, all the ginkgo trees have changed. The Ginkgo biloba is one of the most distinct and beautiful of all deciduous trees. It prefers a minimum of four hours of direct, unfiltered sunlight each day. The ginkgo has a cone-like shape when young, and becomes irregularly rounded as it ages.

: The leaves are fan-shaped, up to three inches long, with a petiole that is also up to three inches long. This shape and the elongated petiole cause the foliage to flutter in the slightest breeze.

: The trunk of the ginkgo tree is a light brown to brownish-gray bark that is deeply furrowed and highly ridged. The ridges become more pronounced as the tree ages. The trunk circumference of the giant female tree measures more than 14-feet.

: Mixed with the fallen leaves below the female tree are newly fallen ginkgo tree fruits. The most noticeable thing about these is the smell – it is hard to miss, and the stench is quite disagreeable. The outer, nasty smelling pulp is known botanically as sarcotesta.

: The ginkgo seeds contain urushiol, which is the same chemical that causes poison oak, ivy, and sumac, so always wear gloves and protect your skin whenever handling the fruit.

: Inside is a single hard-shelled seed enclosing an edible kernel. The kernels are often roasted and used in Asian cuisines.

: I often collect the fruits and give them to chef friends for use in their Asian dishes – they are always excited to receive them.

: And I have so many this year! What a bounty.

: Ginkgo trees are dioecious, meaning that male and female reproductive parts develop on separate plants. Ginkgo trees typically reach sexual maturity around 20 to 30 years old. Male trees do not drop fruit. This ginkgo tree is in one corner of my herbaceous peony bed.

: And this ginkgo is outside my Winter House across the carriage road from the peony garden.

: These ginkgo trees are in a grove not far from my chicken coops outside my fenced pastures. The leaves are still holding on.

: This ginkgo is outside my raised bed vegetable garden. It is the first to lose its leaves here at the farm. Typically, on one day after a hard frost sweeps down the east coast, most of the ginkgos at my farm and countless more in the area, drop all their leaves, but with such mild temperatures this autumn, the “great fall” seems less dramatic.