Ginkgo are not very useful as shade trees, especially in their youth, as the limbs and foliage are spaced apart too much to create much shade. As the trees mature, their shading value increases. As noted earlier, male trees serve best in the landscape or along streets because they do not produce the malodorous fruit that females bear.

Mature Ginkgoes are slow-growing, tough, and tolerant of most urban stresses including drought and heat reflected from streets and sidewalks. They make great street trees, in part, because their fibrous root systems do not cause damage to sidewalks and driveways. The Ginkgo can be trained as an espalier, hedge or climber. It can even be grown as a bonsai tree.