The top 6 inches of the Shangri-La has no leaves and I'm worried it is dead, though it seems pliable. The President and Saratoga have grown well, if slowly, putting on about 10" this year.

I visited the nursery where I bought the Shangri-La and asked about the leader. They said it would not grow back, that I could train another leader. Is that correct for Gingko trees in general if the tip of the leader has died?

I think the Shangri-La doesn't like direct sun and heat. It came from a coastal nursery. Having said that, we had the 5th hottest summer on record, so maybe I should give it another year before I replant? OTOH, The President has nearly tripled in size from when it was planted from a 2 gallon container. So I'm thinking of replanting...Opinions?

Which got me to wondering if it would be safe to paint the trees with white tree paint in the summer to protect them?

Lastly, I wanted opinions about fertilizing. I planted flowers at their base last fall, Stock, Pinks, and didn't fertilize because the soil was heavily fortified with compost. This year I'd like to fertilize and wanted advice on what is safe for the trees while the flowers are in winter bloom.

have a soil test done.. to determine is anything is missing from the soil.. then act accordingly ...

IMHO.. trees NEVER need fert ... unless the soil test indicates such..

put away the paint.. trees are wood.. not latex-based ... it will eventually trap moisture behind.. and be detrimental in the long run..

ALL TREES.. re-leader ... usually more than one.. and at that point you reduce back to one ...

i dont think any of us would have recommended amending the planting hole in the first place ...

w/o pix.. i have no clue is replanting is necessary ...

now i will hit send.. and find the pix elsewhere..

ken

That is correct, for trees, not just Ginkgo

"...would be safe to paint the trees with white tree paint in the summer to protect them?"

Tree trunks can be painted with watered down paint for more than one reason, but environmental adaptability is NOT one of them. Painting the tree will not make it any more heat-hardy and will probably only succeed in making it look weird.

"...the soil was heavily fortified with compost."

I hope you're not saying that you heavily amended the backfill soil, with compost, when you planted your trees! If you did, that may be part of the problem. Amending soil is almost never a good idea when planting trees, and organic matter should generally be limited to less than 5% of soil volume.

"Lastly, I wanted opinions about fertilizing."

As has been said here a million times, trees rarely need fertilizer and should only be fertilizer when either a soil test or visual indications point to the need for such.