From a Geelong Seed to Victoria's Tree of the Year: A Ginkgo's 167-Year Story

The most popular spot to get married in Geelong's botanic gardens is a patch of lawn under a ginkgo tree. Its branches frame countless wedding photos, and the tree has now been named Victoria's tree of the year for 2026.

The National Trust of Australia (Victoria), which runs the awards, announced the result on Tuesday. The ginkgo beat eight other finalists and took 27% of the 4,435 public votes cast. A smooth bark apple myrtle in Prahran came second, and a myrtle beech in Apollo Bay came third.

The tree stands about 20 metres tall. It is the largest ginkgo biloba in Victoria and possibly in Australia. It was raised from seed and planted in 1859, only two decades after the township of Geelong was formally established. The seeds came from China, and the story goes that a ship's captain stopping at Geelong's port delivered them, though that is a rumour rather than a documented fact.

Generations of botanic garden workers and volunteers have helped it thrive since. Over that time it has developed stalactite-like growths on its trunk and branches, which appear only on much older female ginkgos. It also produces fruit with a reputation for being smelly. Ginkgos, also called maidenhairs, are among the most ancient trees on earth, dating to the Jurassic period more than 160m years ago. They were thought to have been extinct in the wild for many centuries before being revived. In Japan they symbolise hope, longevity and peace, because six survived the 1945 atomic blast in Hiroshima.

Sheree Parker, the botanic gardens supervisor, said the ginkgo was one of the first trees planted in the park and is its most visited and talked about. She said it was just starting to wake from dormancy, and that staff were excited. Many couples choose to marry beneath it, and the lawn hosts a lot of weddings. Justin Buckley, the National Trust's executive manager of gardens and landscapes, called it a very popular winner and a special tree, well loved locally. City of Greater Geelong staff had lobbied hard for the win, regularly posting on social media to urge people to vote. One post earlier this month called the tree the backdrop for countless local love stories.

Only trees on the Trust's significant tree register can enter. The register recognises 2,500 trees in Victoria for their cultural, scientific and historic value. More than 40 were nominated this year, and a panel of 12 experts and arboriculturists cut the field to nine. The competition began in 2016 to celebrate Victoria's best-loved trees and to press for greater protection of green spaces.

That second aim is the reason the Trust keeps running it. A recent urban greening framework from Stonnington city council found that more than 17.9 hectares of tree canopy had been lost from private land in that inner Melbourne suburb alone over the past decade. The Trust is urging the Victorian government to give automatic statutory protection to trees on its register and on local council registers. It also wants a retain first planning principle, which would make removing a tree a genuine last resort.

The government introduced uniform protection of canopy trees in the past year. Buckley said it remains quite limited, leaving large scope for significant trees to be removed without a permit. Trees, he said, do not have the protection heritage buildings have. Swapping one tree for another does not settle the matter, because big significant trees are virtually irreplaceable. With growing populations and demand for housing, he expects a lot of pressure on trees. Whether the government moves on the Trust's two proposals is the question to watch.