Ginkgo biloba Eiffel

Ginkgo biloba 'Eiffel' is an Italian creation, unique in its fastigiate shape, very compact and modest in size! Indeed, it forms a bushy column 10m (32ft 10in) tall and 3m (9ft 10in) wide, perfect for adding verticality to a medium to large-sized garden. The original habit of this deciduous tree is enhanced by its dense and slender foliage in medium green notched fans, turning bright golden yellow in autumn. Exceptionally robust and hardy, this species adapts to full sun or partial shade and to all normal to rich, well-drained, dry to moist soils.

Ginkgo biloba, also known as the 'tree of forty crowns' or sometimes 'Maidenhair tree' due to the shape of its leaves and the pattern of its veins resembling capillaries, is a very primitive tree from the almost extinct Ginkgoaceae family. This living fossil, which does not bear flowers, normally reaches up to 24m (78ft 8in) in height, showing an upright habit in its youth and a more spreading one with age, measuring up to 9m (29ft 6in) in diameter. This majestic tree, native to China, has today (and probably for a long time) disappeared from its natural habitat, surviving only thanks to the admiration and respect it has inspired in human beings for many generations, who continue to plant and multiply it in their most beautiful parks.

Ginkgo biloba 'Eiffel' is one of the few horticultural varieties derived from Ginkgo biloba and comes from an Italian creation. This cultivar stands out from the others due to its moderate growth and compact columnar habit. When fully grown, the tree reaches an average height of 10m (32ft 10in) with a spread of 3m (9ft 10in) and grows 20 to 40cm (7.9 to 15.7in) in height per year. Its flat, deciduous leaves are semi-round, medium green, turning to bright golden yellow in autumn, and have the characteristic fan shape, measuring from 4 to 10cm (1.6 to 3.9in) wide. This beautiful tree has a spreading root system and develops quite slowly during the first 10-12 years of its life, and then faster afterwards.

Ginkgo biloba 'Eiffel' can be planted as a focal point on a lawn or at the back of a flower bed in front of the house, where it becomes the focal point of the garden, especially in autumn when its leaves turn a remarkable golden yellow. It can also be combined with Japanese maples, azaleas, and rhododendrons in a medium to large-sized garden...

Interestingly, despite its deciduous leaves, Ginkgo biloba is a conifer from a botanical point of view. It is a very hardy shrub. It is also very resistant. It was one of the few trees to survive the atomic bomb in Hiroshima in 1945!

It is the oldest tree species found on Earth, dating back 300 million years, surviving all the cataclysms that the Earth has experienced. This tree with a thousand crowns has been living for thousands of years in the Tianmushan Mountains in southeastern China. It was reintroduced to Europe in the 18th century. With exceptional longevity, Ginkgo is also a medicinal plant whose leaves are used to reduce the symptoms of Alzheimer's disease.