The Living-Fossil Shade Tree With Unforgettable Gold Fall Color

Autumn Gold Ginkgo (Ginkgo biloba 'Autumn Gold') is the classic, time-tested fruitless ginkgo — a broad, beautifully symmetrical male selection famous for its spectacular pure-gold fall color and the unmistakable fan-shaped foliage of a tree whose lineage stretches back 250 million years. Ginkgo is one of the toughest, longest-lived shade trees on the planet: pest- and disease-free, tolerant of pollution, compacted soil, and road salt, and never browsed by deer. Whether you're planting a stately lawn specimen in Edina, a clean boulevard tree in Minneapolis, or a legacy shade tree in Woodbury, Autumn Gold is a plant-it-for-life choice that grows more magnificent with every passing year.

Autumn Gold Ginkgo Plant Details

Autumn Gold Ginkgo Uses in Minnesota Landscapes

Stately Lawn and Specimen Trees

With its broad, symmetrical crown, Autumn Gold is the quintessential ginkgo specimen — a clean, fruitless tree that anchors a front lawn or open landscape and just keeps getting better with age. It's the kind of tree that defines a property for generations in Edina or Minnetonka.

Tough Boulevards and Street Trees

Ginkgo is one of the most pollution-, salt-, and compaction-tolerant trees in existence, which is exactly why it's planted along city streets worldwide. Autumn Gold makes an excellent boulevard or large parking-strip tree in Minneapolis and St. Paul where conditions are harsh.

Spectacular Fall Color and Winter Structure

The fall show is legendary: the entire canopy turns a glowing pure gold, then drops nearly all at once to lay down a brilliant golden carpet. The strong, evenly spaced branching gives handsome architecture all winter long.

Best Time to Plant Autumn Gold Ginkgo in Minnesota

Ginkgo is deciduous, so you have two good planting windows in the Twin Cities:

Spring (late April–May), once the ground has thawed, is excellent — the tree gets the full growing season to establish before its first winter.

Fall (September–mid-October) also works well. Plant at least six weeks before the ground freezes so roots can settle in. Avoid mid-summer planting when transplant stress is highest, and never plant into frozen ground.

How to Plant Autumn Gold Ginkgo

1. Dig wide, not deep — the hole should be 2–3 times the root ball width but only as deep as the ball itself. In heavy clay, dig even wider.
2. Check drainage — if water pools in the hole, break through any clay hardpan or mound-plant slightly to keep roots out of standing water.
3. Backfill with the native soil mixed with 20–30% compost. Don't create a pure-compost "container" in clay.
4. Set the tree so the top of the root ball sits at or just above grade. Allow about 30 feet of spread for a mature specimen.
5. Build a 3–4 inch water basin around the root zone to direct water to the roots; flatten it before winter to prevent ice damage.
6. Mulch with 2–3 inches of shredded bark or wood chips, kept 2 inches away from the trunk. Young ginkgo benefits from a trunk wrap the first winter or two.

Watering Autumn Gold Ginkgo in Minnesota

First Year Watering Schedule

Weeks 1–2: water every 1–2 days, deep and slow. Month 1–2: every 3–4 days. Month 3 through fall: every 5–7 days during active growth, less when rainfall is adequate (Minnesota averages about 3 inches per month June–August). Stop watering 2–3 weeks before the ground freezes in late October so the tree can harden off for winter.

After Year One

Established Autumn Gold Ginkgo is notably drought-tolerant and needs supplemental water mainly during extended dry spells (2+ weeks with no rain). Water deeply and infrequently — soaking to 6–8 inches every 7–14 days during drought — and let natural rainfall do most of the work.

Will Autumn Gold Ginkgo survive a Minnesota winter? Yes — it's reliably hardy to about -30°F and well-proven across the Twin Cities. Give young trees a trunk wrap the first winter or two for extra insurance.

Does it make the smelly fruit ginkgos are known for? No — Autumn Gold is a male, fruitless selection, so you get all the beauty with none of the messy, foul-smelling seed that female ginkgos drop.

How fast does it grow here? Slow to moderate — about a foot per year. Ginkgo rewards patience: it's essentially a permanent tree, often thriving for well over a century.

Why are ginkgos called living fossils? Ginkgo biloba is the sole survivor of an ancient lineage dating back roughly 250 million years — virtually unchanged since the age of the dinosaurs, and remarkably resilient to modern stresses.

You May Also Like

• Magyar Ginkgo — an upright-pyramidal fruitless ginkgo that establishes quickly.
• Princeton Sentry Ginkgo — a narrow, columnar fruitless ginkgo for tight spaces.
• Presidential Gold Ginkgo — a vigorous, refined fruitless ginkgo with intense gold fall color.
• Kentucky Coffeetree — another tough, bold-textured, urban-proof shade tree.

How Many Autumn Gold Ginkgo Do I Need?

Autumn Gold is a legacy specimen — one tree with about 30 feet of clearance anchors a front lawn for generations. For a boulevard or driveway line, space trees 25–30 feet on center (a 100-foot run takes 4–5 trees); the slow, uniform growth keeps the row beautifully matched. On large properties, a pair flanking a long entry drive is a classic, formal look.

Autumn Gold Ginkgo Season-by-Season in Minnesota

• Spring: Bright green fan-shaped leaves unfurl along the evenly spaced branches — unmistakably ginkgo from the first flush.
• Summer: A clean, broad, symmetrical canopy of leathery fans, untouched by pests, disease, or deer.
• Fall: The legendary show — the whole crown turns pure glowing gold, then drops nearly all at once into a brilliant golden carpet.
• Winter: Strong, architectural branching stands out against the snow, handsome from every angle.

At a Glance

✔ Deer-Resistant   ✔ Salt-Tolerant   ✔ Drought-Tolerant   ✔ Four-Season Interest

Plant It With

• Magyar Ginkgo — an upright-pyramidal fruitless ginkgo to vary the form in a grouping.
• Presidential Gold Ginkgo — a vigorous fruitless ginkgo with the same intense gold fall color.
• Kentucky Coffeetree — another bold, urban-proof native shade tree for the same tough sites.
• State Street Miyabe Maple — a salt-tolerant boulevard companion that thrives in the same street-side conditions.

Is Autumn Gold Ginkgo Right for Your Yard?

Autumn Gold thrives in full sun on virtually any Twin Cities soil — clay, sand, compacted boulevard strips, even salted street edges — and is the definitive plant-it-once legacy tree for lawns and streetscapes. It's not a fit if you need fast shade or a small-footprint tree: it grows about a foot a year toward a 50-by-30-foot frame, so give it room and give it time.