Making a Carpet of Yellow Leaves

In autumn ginkgo trees (Ginkgo biloba) turn bright yellow and can lose all their leaves in as little as one day.

Yesterday morning I saw these ginkgos “snowing” so I stopped to film them (11 seconds).  The scene is so bright that it’s hard to see individual falling leaves … but there are many.

I returned six hours later to see if the trees were bare.  Not yet, but close.

Here’s the before and after.
Before: 11 November 2017, 10:30am

Ginkgo trees make a bright yellow carpet of leaves, 11 Nov 2017, 10:30am (photo by Kate St. John)
Ginkgo trees make a bright yellow carpet of leaves, 11 Nov 2017, 10:30am (photo by Kate St. John)

After: 11 November 2017, 4:30pm:

Ginkgo trees with considerably fewer leaves, 11 Nov 2017, 4:30pm (photo by Kate St. John)
Ginkgo trees with fewer leaves, 11 Nov 2017, 4:30pm (photo by Kate St. John)

If you want to see ginkgos make a carpet of leaves, I know of two places to go:  Schenley Drive near Phipps Conservatory and Highland Avenue near the entrance to Highland Park.  But watch them soon.  They may be bare by the end of the day.

 

(photos by Kate St. John)

7 thoughts on “Making a Carpet of Yellow Leaves

    1. I guess a few more nearby on North Dithridge between Bayard and Centre. There was a nice coating of leaves on the sidewalk and a few cars on Saturday afternoon.

  1. Thanks, Kate. I love ginkgo trees! There was a huge one in Richmond, Va on the grounds of a mansion in Maymont Park.
    When I was in college, I named my cat Ginkgo.

  2. Yes, we have gingko trees in the park in Tarentum too. Used to have them in town, but they took them out, there were some females. And when the female trees fruit, they make a mess. I think I remember reading something about that issue in Pgh as well.

    1. Yes, the fruits smell bad and nurserymen can’t tell which trees are female. So we just put up with them.

  3. There was a beautiful very tall Ginko Tree with the lovely fan shaped leaves by my driveway & patio when we bought our home. For many years there was no fruit. Then it suddenly began to produce the very stinky fruit by the hundreds. They made the driveway & patio very slippery when they squished & the neighbors could smell them. My Shetland Sheepdog loved to eat them every year but could never keep them down. The smashed fruit stuck on the cars tires and made the garage & the house smell awful. The landscapers dreaded them.

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