A Stately Gold-Crowned Shade Tree Built to Last Generations

Presidential Gold Ginkgo (Ginkgo biloba 'The President') is a vigorous, upright male selection of the legendary "living fossil" tree, prized for its refined, symmetrical crown and an especially intense gold fall color — even brighter than the classic Autumn Gold. Like all ginkgo it's nearly indestructible: pest- and disease-free, tolerant of pollution, compacted soil, and road salt, and ignored by deer. As a fruitless male clone it never drops the messy, smelly seed. Whether you're planting a grand boulevard tree in St. Paul, a stately lawn specimen in Minnetonka, or a generational shade tree in Woodbury, Presidential Gold is a premium, plant-it-and-forget-it choice that gets more magnificent every year.

Presidential Gold Ginkgo Plant Details

Presidential Gold Ginkgo Uses in Minnesota Landscapes

Premium Boulevard and Street Trees

Presidential Gold was bred for outstanding boulevard performance — a strong, symmetrical, upright crown on one of the most pollution-, salt-, and compaction-tolerant trees in the world. It's a top-tier choice for street-side planting and large parking-strip islands in Minneapolis and St. Paul.

Stately Lawn and Estate Specimens

At 50–60 feet with a broad, refined crown, this is a true legacy shade tree. As a clean, fruitless male clone it makes a magnificent single specimen on a large lawn or estate in Minnetonka or Edina — the kind of tree that defines a property for generations.

Intense Fall Color and Winter Structure

The fall display is the headline: a glowing, uniform, especially intense gold that drops almost all at once for a brief golden carpet. The strong, evenly branched frame also gives handsome architecture through the winter months.

Best Time to Plant Presidential 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 Presidential 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 30–40 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 Presidential 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 Presidential 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 Presidential 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.

How is it different from Autumn Gold? Presidential Gold has a more vigorous, upright, refined-symmetrical crown and an especially intense gold fall color, making it a standout boulevard and specimen tree. Both are fruitless males.

Does it make the smelly fruit ginkgos are known for? No — it's a male, fruitless selection, so there's no messy, foul-smelling seed to clean up.

How fast does it grow here? Slow to moderate — around a foot per year, vigorous by ginkgo standards. It's a patient investment that becomes an essentially permanent legacy tree.

You May Also Like

• Autumn Gold Ginkgo — a broad, symmetrical fruitless ginkgo with classic gold fall color.
• Princeton Sentry Ginkgo — a narrow, columnar fruitless ginkgo for tighter spaces.
• Magyar Ginkgo — an upright-pyramidal fruitless ginkgo that establishes quickly.
• Kentucky Coffeetree — another tough, bold-textured, urban-proof shade tree.

How Many Presidential Gold Ginkgo Do I Need?

This is a one-tree statement — a single specimen with 30–40 feet of clearance becomes the defining tree of a property. For a formal boulevard or long driveway allee on a large lot, space trees 35–40 feet apart on center (2–3 per 100 feet); the matched symmetrical crowns make one of the most elegant street plantings possible.

Presidential Gold Ginkgo Season-by-Season in Minnesota

• Spring: Distinctive fan-shaped leaves unfurl bright green along spur shoots — a leaf form unchanged in 200 million years — on a clean, symmetrical frame.
• Summer: A dense, refined crown of leathery green fans that no pest or disease touches; it shrugs off heat, drought, compacted soil, and city pollution.
• Fall: The famous show — the entire crown turns an intense, uniform gold, holds for a week or two, then drops nearly all at once into a brilliant golden carpet.
• Winter: Strong, evenly spaced branching and corky gray bark give stately architecture against the snow — and deer leave it completely alone.

At a Glance

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

Plant It With

• Autumn Gold Ginkgo — the classic broad-crowned sibling for a matched gold display.
• Princeton Sentry Ginkgo — the columnar form for the tight spot by the drive.
• Magyar Ginkgo — an upright-pyramidal ginkgo to vary a boulevard row.
• Kentucky Coffeetree — another bombproof legacy tree with bold winter texture.

Is Presidential Gold Ginkgo Right for Your Yard?

Choose it if you're planting for the long haul — a full-sun spot with 30+ feet of room where you want a pest-free, deer-proof, salt-tolerant legacy tree with the most intense gold fall color in the catalog. It's not a fit if you need fast shade; at roughly a foot a year, the first decade rewards patience, and a honeylocust or elm will out-pace it early on.