Field Maple Tree (2L)

Field Maple – Acer campestre is Britain’s only native maple, a tough, adaptable tree that has grown in hedgerows, woodland edges and field boundaries for centuries. This specimen is supplied in a 2 litre pot, a practical size for planting out into a garden, a new hedge line or a mixed native screen, and young enough to establish quickly once its roots reach surrounding soil.

The foliage is the tree’s best known feature. Leaves are small, around 4-7cm across, with five rounded lobes and a soft matt green colour through spring and summer, often flushed pinkish-bronze as they first unfurl. In autumn the canopy turns clear butter yellow, sometimes deepening to amber or russet where the tree is grown in full sun. Clusters of small green-yellow flowers appear in late spring alongside the emerging leaves, followed by winged seeds, or samaras, held in pairs at an almost straight horizontal line. Mature bark becomes pale brown and corky, with older twigs sometimes developing distinctive ridged wings.

Field Maple earns its place in gardens for more than looks. It tolerates chalk, clay, sand and loam, copes with exposure and urban pollution, and responds extremely well to cutting. That makes it equally useful as a specimen shade tree, a clipped hedge component at 1.5-2.5 metres, or part of a native mixed hedge with hawthorn, hazel and blackthorn. The flowers are a useful early nectar source for bees, while aphids on the foliage support ladybirds and small birds through the season.

Care Guide

Plant between late autumn and early spring while the ground is workable, avoiding waterlogged or frozen conditions. Choose a site in full sun or partial shade; the richest autumn colour develops with more light. Field Maple is unfussy about soil and handles alkaline chalk soils that defeat many ornamental maples, though it dislikes permanently saturated ground.

Dig a hole roughly three times the width of the 2 litre rootball but no deeper, loosening the sides so roots can spread. Set the tree at the same depth it sat in its pot, backfill with the excavated soil, firm gently and water in thoroughly. A 5-8cm mulch of bark or well-rotted compost, kept clear of the stem, conserves moisture and suppresses competing grass.

Water weekly through the first two growing seasons during dry spells, particularly in the drier east and south-east, giving one good soaking rather than frequent light sprinkles. Established trees rarely need watering in a typical British summer. Apply a general purpose fertiliser in early spring for the first few years if growth seems slow on poor ground.

Prune only in late summer or early autumn, never in late winter or spring when maples bleed sap heavily. Remove crossing, damaged or crowded branches to build a clear framework. Hedges can be trimmed once or twice from midsummer. Young trees in windy sites benefit from a short stake for the first two winters, removed once the trunk thickens.

Ultimate height
Higher than 12 metres

Time to ultimate height
20–50 years

Ultimate spread
8–12 metres

Please note: Decorative pots shown are for display purposes only. Your tree will be supplied in a standard plastic nursery pot shown in the other pictures.