Styling Ginkgo to flare style

[TheRollercoaster]

I've had this little ginkgo for almost 2 years now and was thinking about starting to direct it towards the style I was aiming for it.
The style I would like to achieve flare/flame style, where you would have a solid large base with some branches starting from the lower part of the trunk. The second photo is my current inspiration and shows exactly what I'm talking about.
However it seems like it only wants to grow on the apical part, which is actually tending horizontally. I will probably wire it when the leafs are dropped next autumn.

So the question is:
Is there way to stimulate the back budding at the base of the trunk on a ginkgo and to enlarge the base/nebari?

 

[Shibui]

Getting any branches on ginkgo is hard. It has taken me nearly 40 years to get a modest amount of branches on my oldest ginkgo.
The only thing I have found is to prune relatively hard. Even then it is likely you'll only get shoots from the last 2 or 3 nodes.
Enlarging the nebari is exactly the same as any other species. Root prune all downward roots to encourage lateral surface roots. It still takes longer for ginkgo than most other species but having those strong lateral roots will help.

 

[penumbra]

Shibui gives sound advice here. Much, if not most of what we do with our trees to create the illusion of old age is inadequate for some species. And this noble plant that flourished in the time of dinosaurs appears to be one of them. Some plants require physiological changes that come with maturity. My original ginkgo is about 34 years old now and has started branching freely within the past few years. It was a 10 foot tall tree when I acquired it and I reduced to to about 30 inches right away. While I encouraged it by constantly nipping off terminals and wiring down branches, I think that much of the trees response was up to the tree. If any of my trees were said to be sentient, it would be this one. Since we have been working together now in a relationship, the response has been fruitful.
About ginkgo in general, there does seem to be a genetic disposition for some to branch more fully at a younger age. I have a couple hundred seedlings from one year to about 5-6 years I am working with and I think that some of these "easy branch" specimens may show promise for cloning. I will be 75 next month so much of my results may be after I am gone, but I figure that I could have another 5-10 years to play with them.
Your ginkgo looks healthy and happy, just give it time and understanding.

 

[Brian Van Fleet]

Based on the shape of the leaves, I would guess this tree is a grafted cultivar of some type. If you cut it below the graft, the resulting foliage may be different. However, if you do chop the trunk low in the spring, it will likely respond with multiple shoots in the area of the cut. This has been my experience with ginkgo.

The downside is that a trunk chop will slow down the trunk thickening, so you kind of need to grow the trunk to the size you want first, then chop to build branches where you want them.

 

[TheRollercoaster]

Shibui gives sound advice here. Much, if not most of what we do with our trees to create the illusion of old age is inadequate for some species. And this noble plant that flourished in the time of dinosaurs appears to be one of them. Some plants require physiological changes that come with maturity. My original ginkgo is about 34 years old now and has started branching freely within the past few years. It was a 10 foot tall tree when I acquired it and I reduced to to about 30 inches right away. While I encouraged it by constantly nipping off terminals and wiring down branches, I think that much of the trees response was up to the tree. If any of my trees were said to be sentient, it would be this one. Since we have been working together now in a relationship, the response has been fruitful.
About ginkgo in general, there does seem to be a genetic disposition for some to branch more fully at a younger age. I have a couple hundred seedlings from one year to about 5-6 years I am working with and I think that some of these "easy branch" specimens may show promise for cloning. I will be 75 next month so much of my results may be after I am gone, but I figure that I could have another 5-10 years to play with them.
Your ginkgo looks healthy and happy, just give it time and understanding.

Thanks for your really comprehensive reply, that was quite instructive.
I wish I had the space to hold that many seedlings while having fun growing them into bonsai.
What do you mean by saying you have been working together with your tree, in practice?

 

[TheRollercoaster]

Getting any branches on ginkgo is hard. It has taken me nearly 40 years to get a modest amount of branches on my oldest ginkgo.
The only thing I have found is to prune relatively hard. Even then it is likely you'll only get shoots from the last 2 or 3 nodes.
Enlarging the nebari is exactly the same as any other species. Root prune all downward roots to encourage lateral surface roots. It still takes longer for ginkgo than most other species but having those strong lateral roots will help.

Got it, I am probably going to keep cultivating it normally by repotting every 2/3 years pruning downwards roots in order to get to the trunk thickness I'm looking for. Then if I still have no branches on the lower part I will try chopping the trunk as also Brian suggested.
Couple questions about the nodes: on a ginkgo, do you consider a node the space between the 2 bulges where the leaves come out from (blue line), or the space between 2 subsequent new growth shoots (red line)? Secondly, can a branch originate from a bulge of leaves?

 

[SeanS]

The bulges are the buds. Buds develop at the nodes. The space between the nodes (buds) is called the internode

 

[TheRollercoaster]

The bulges are the buds. Buds develop at the nodes. The space between the nodes (buds) is called the internode

I was taught the internode is the space between branches, that's why I was also asking if ginkgo can develop branches starting from a bud.

 

[Shibui]

Node is the place on a stem with buds. or potential for buds. Nodes are places where new buds can emerge. Internodes are the spaces between nodes.
Buds can lengthen into shoots and shoots have the potential to grow into branches or extend the trunk.
In your pic the blue line shows an internode.
The red line is a year's growth - not sure if there's a proper term for that?

The bulge of leaves is a bud. those buds can lengthen and develop into a branch. The problem with gingko is they are very slow to grow. Sometimes it just stays as a bulge of leaves year after year.

Apical dominance is a term that describes the hormonal control of plant growth. Because most trees want to get tall fast the top buds produce hormones called auxin which moves back down the stems and retards the growth of lower buds. In this way effort is not wasted on less useful shoots. As much as possible goes into the highest shoots so the tree grows quick.
For us this can be frustrating because we would like lower branches to grow.
If the dominant shoots are removed or damaged, the flow of auxin reduces which allows lower buds to shoot and grow until one establishes dominance again. By pruning upper shoots we can encourage lower buds to emerge or grow better.
With ginkgo I find that light trimming often only allows 1 or 2 of the buds closest to start growing. Harder pruning - removing more of the upper stem - can allow more buds to shoot. I usually need to cut back into previous year's growth to get more than 1 new shoot to grow. In your pic above, trimming anywhere in the red arrow area will likely just give 1 replacement shoot (no increase in branching! Definite increase in frustration). Cutting back down into the older section, around the blue, should get 2 and maybe 3 of the buds growing (yay!)

I have heard reports of pruning at different times of the year can make a difference to the number of buds that activate and grow but I have not seen that on my trees.

 

[TheRollercoaster]

Node is the place on a stem with buds. or potential for buds. Nodes are places where new buds can emerge. Internodes are the spaces between nodes.
Buds can lengthen into shoots and shoots have the potential to grow into branches or extend the trunk.
In your pic the blue line shows an internode.
The red line is a year's growth - not sure if there's a proper term for that?

The bulge of leaves is a bud. those buds can lengthen and develop into a branch. The problem with gingko is they are very slow to grow. Sometimes it just stays as a bulge of leaves year after year.

Apical dominance is a term that describes the hormonal control of plant growth. Because most trees want to get tall fast the top buds produce hormones called auxin which moves back down the stems and retards the growth of lower buds. In this way effort is not wasted on less useful shoots. As much as possible goes into the highest shoots so the tree grows quick.
For us this can be frustrating because we would like lower branches to grow.
If the dominant shoots are removed or damaged, the flow of auxin reduces which allows lower buds to shoot and grow until one establishes dominance again. By pruning upper shoots we can encourage lower buds to emerge or grow better.
With ginkgo I find that light trimming often only allows 1 or 2 of the buds closest to start growing. Harder pruning - removing more of the upper stem - can allow more buds to shoot. I usually need to cut back into previous year's growth to get more than 1 new shoot to grow. In your pic above, trimming anywhere in the red arrow area will likely just give 1 replacement shoot (no increase in branching! Definite increase in frustration). Cutting back down into the older section, around the blue, should get 2 and maybe 3 of the buds growing (yay!)

I have heard reports of pruning at different times of the year can make a difference to the number of buds that activate and grow but I have not seen that on my trees.

I couldn't hope for better reply, thank you very much for the time and knowledge you put into this, it was very informative.