Field maple (Acer campestre)

Our range of Field Maple bare root plants (Acer campestre)

We have Field Maple bare root hedging plants in several specifications and heights.  The 1+0 specification plants are seedlings (often called whips) which were grown from seed down in the spring and are sold during the following November to April months ie they are 1 year old.  We have Field Maple whips in several heights.

We also have Field Maple transplants (1+1) which began as a one year old whip (grown from seed in one growing season) and are then planted back out for one more growing season in a different area of our fields at lower density to give each plant more space, nutrients and water.  If you are planting under a Countryside Stewardship grant, you need to use the 1+1 plants.

All these plants are grown by us in Herefordshire.  Generally we have two batches of seed - one will be UK seed and one will be high quality imported, so if it is particularly important to you to have UK provenance seed, please give us a call.

You can read more about the specifications we offer on the tab just below the pricing table to the right of this product description.

Field maple (Acer campestre) Summary

As a hedging plant, Field maple is tough, withstands hard pruning or hedge laying (though its shoots are somewhat brittle and tough), and is often included as a constituent part of a mixed farm hedgerow.  Its leaves go bright yellow in autumn.

As a tree, it will grow up to 20m and has a fairly uniform rounded crown and either a clear stem or multi stem.  It is the only native Maple tree.  It has the hardest timber of any European maple, a lovely red colour, traditionally used in wood-turning and furniture making.

It’s a good choice for areas that suffer from pollution and will cope with any soil and situation.  It's very hardy.

Soil and Situation

Whilst performing best on well drained, rich soil Field Maple will cope with most soils and situations even dry, sandy soil, areas susceptible to high pollution levels and areas with compacted soil.  They grow well in full sun or partial shade.

Leaves, bark, flowers and fruit

The striking and most notable aspect of Field maple to mention in this section is the bright yellow colour that the leaves turn in autumn (often having had a red flush before turning yellow).  Driving along country lanes in September, it’s easy to see how many hedgerows include this species by the bands of yellow foliage every few metres.  The leaves are small, dark green until autumn, quite shiny and have 5 unequal sized toothed lobes and rounded edges held on a reddish stalk.  Leaves are eaten by many types of moths and by browsing animals.

Flowers are small, lime green and held in clusters.  They are attractive to pollinators (both for nectar and pollen) and after being pollinated, develop into winged fruits (called "keys") which are a food source for small mammals.   The helicopers (containing the seed) allow the seed to land away from the parent tree whose shade is undesirable for germination and where the access to water and nutrients will be limited by the parent tree.

The bark is sandy brown coloured with flaky longitudinal fissures that have a reddish edge when the bark is young.

Eventual height and growth rate

Growth rate is average (about 40cm pa).  As a hedging plant, Field maple is good at 1m to 3m and as a tree, it will grow to 10m or more (more usually 5m - 10m) and it can live for 350 years.

This section gives definitions on the specifications of plants that we sell.  We are specialists in field grown (or bare root) plants which are grown in two ways.  The majority are grown from seed, some are ready within one growing season (seedlings or 1+0's) and some species require two growing seasons (1u1's).  In addition to growing from seed we also grow from small plants or cuttings (transplants) which are much more widely spaced (taking more land, more irrigation water, fertilisers and labour).  There are only a handful of bare root wholesale nurseries in the UK and of those even fewer grow transplants but Ray Jenkins has many years' experience of transplanting so we grow these in large volumes.  Ray has written this blog about the benefits of bare root plants and how they are grown and another blog which gives further detail on bare root specifications.

The detailed specifications are shown below.  If you are in doubt about what specification to use please email us on enquiries@rjtreesandhedging.co.uk with a description of the project (and photos if appropriate) and we will advise you.

1+0 - field grown in one season from seed, known as a seedling (sometimes called a whip), generally a slender single stem plant.   These are the cheapest specification and are particularly suitable for planting where weed competition will be less intense, soil is shallow or on exposed windy sites.  Gives a high root to shoot ratio and minimal plant "check".

2+0 - a 2 year seedling, field grown from seed in the same seed bed in two growing seasons where the species cannot be grown to a saleable plant from seed in one season

1U1 - 2 year old plant called an undercut, field grown for two seasons in the same seed bed and undercut by machine (a sharp blade cutting the roots under the soil level) after the first year to develop the root structure. We do this with several species which take 2 years to develop (eg oak, beech, hornbeam)

1+1 - 2 year old plant (transplant) grown from seed in the first year and then transplanted into a different area of the field and spaced out for the second growing season - a robust plant with a larger and more robust root system than seedling or undercut plant which will enable it to better withstand drought and weed competition. Often the best choice and the staple norm for farm hedging and this specification is a requirement of the Countryside Stewardship Grant

1+2- a 3 year old plant, two years field growing in the seedbed and then transplanted (and spaced out) for a further two growing seasons giving a tall, stocky, bushy plant

2+1- a 3 year old plant, two years field growing in the seedbed and then transplanted (and spaced out) for a further growing season, giving a strong bushy plant

3+1 - as above but field grown for a further growing season for more height and a very bushy plant

1+3- 4 year old, one year field growing in the seed beds and then transplanted (and spaced out) for three years, giving a very strong, bushy plant

2+2- 4 year old, two years field growing in the seed beds and then transplanted (and spaced out) for a further two years - a very mature plant suited to certain species like beech and hornbeam where we can offer almost instant hedging

and some that are a bit different.....

P9 - a plant grown in a greenhouse or polytunnel in a 9cm pot (for holly which germinates poorly in the field)

Cell grown - a plant grown in small deep cells (like a small yogurt pot) and then lifted out of those for transportation. Commonly used in forestry and large hedging projects.  Very high quality plants with excellent success rate.  See our blog on the benefits of cell grown plants.

C+1 or C+2 - a 3 or 4 year old plant initally started as hardwood cuttings grown on for a year as cell grown plants and then lined out in fields to grow on for a further 1 or 2 years (a technique used for Cherry Laurel)

0/1 - a hardwood cutting, then field grown for one season (for example for white willow, black poplar and osier)