Ginkgo ‘Autumn Gold’

* Common name: Ginkgo ‘Autumn Gold’

* Botanical name: Ginkgo biloba ‘Autumn Gold’

* What it is: A durable, mid-sized, Asian, deciduous (leaf-dropping) tree with distinctive fan-shaped leaves that turn a glowing gold in fall.

* Size: 40 to 50 feet tall, 25 to 30 feet across in 25 years. A medium-fast grower.

* Where to use: The strong limbs and ability to deal with fairly poor soil and air pollution make it a good choice as a street tree. It’s also striking enough in leaf form and fall color to warrant specimen treatment in the front yard or in center view out a prominent window.

* Care: Keep soil consistently damp in first year or two until the roots are established, then little or no water needed. No fertilizer needed either. This is a very low-maintenance plant. Just prune off any excess or crossing branches in the early years and, if desired, remove lower limbs as tree grows.

* Great partner: Low shrubs with golden foliage make good underplantings, such as deutzia Chardonnay Pearls, abelia ‘Kaleidoscope’ or St. Johnswort ‘Brigadoon.’ Coralbells ‘Caramel,’ ‘Electra’ or ‘Citronelle’ and foamybells ‘Alabama Sunrise’ or ‘Sweet Tea’ are colorful-leafed perennials that look good with ‘Autumn Gold’s’ fall foliage and do well in the part-shade light under the tree’s canopy.