Halka Ginkgo

If you want the majesty of a Ginkgo but don’t want to wait decades for it to provide actual shade, the Halka is the variety for you. While many Ginkgos are notorious for a slow, "awkward teenage phase," the Halka is prized for its vigorous growth rate and its ability to develop a dense, symmetrical, and broadly oval canopy relatively early in its life. It creates a substantial presence in the landscape, making it an ideal choice for a primary shade tree or a stately lawn specimen.

The Halka features the iconic, leathery, fan-shaped leaves that have remained unchanged for over 200 million years. In the summer, the canopy is a deep, cool green; come autumn, the entire tree turns a breathtaking, uniform butter-yellow. One of the most charming traits of the Ginkgo is the "great leaf drop"—following a hard frost, the tree often sheds its entire golden canopy in a single day, creating a stunning yellow carpet on the ground below. Like the Skytower, Halka is a male cultivar, so it is completely seedless and mess-free. It is incredibly "iron-clad," shrugging off heat, air pollution, road salt, and pests with prehistoric ease.