Field Maple Hedge Plants - Acer campestre - Bareroot Hedging

Field Maple Hedge Plants - Delivered by Mail Order from the Nursery with a 1 Year Guarantee

These are seed grown, wild Field Maple hedge plants, Acer campestre. This medium sized native tree is a classic component of a mixed country hedge, suitable for almost any soil and location.
Field Maple will reach about 15-25 metres if it grows freely as a tree.
The plants on this page are young saplings, ideal for planting as hedging or in woodland projects. You can also buy larger Field Maple trees here.
Browse all of our other varieties of Maple Trees & Hedging plants for sale here.

Field Maple hedge plants are only delivered bareroot, during winter (Nov-March).

Choosing a size:
When you are ordering Field Maple plants for a hedge, we generally recommend that you use the smaller plants, known as whips, which are graded at 40/60cms or 60/80cms high. They are cheaper than large plants, easier to handle and they will establish well in poor conditions.
Use larger plants if you want a taller hedge quickly or for instant impact.
All our hedge plants are measured by their height in centimetres above the ground (the roots aren't measured).

Spacing a Field Maple hedge:
Plant Field Maple hedging at 3 plants per metre, 33cms apart.
You can also plant Field Maple at 5 plants per metre in a staggered double row, with 33 cms between each plant along the row and 40cms between the rows.

General description of Field Maple plants:
The common or field maple is a fast growing plant that responds well to brutal pruning. This makes it ideal for country hedges, which are often trimmed roughly with large strimmers. It also makes a beautiful ornamental tree, with a round canopy of twiggy branches that is useful for screening and windbreaks.
Field maple has lovely cork ridges on its young stems and is often planted on the edge of woodland. The small yellow-green flowers aren't really visible amongst the new spring leaves but they are great for bees. The flowers mature into winged seeds.
It grows almost anywhere and thrives in both chalk and heavy clay.
Field maple leaves in autumn are a clear, warm golden-yellow.

History & uses of Acer campestre:
Field maple trees aren't big enough to provide much useful timber for large objects, but the wood is strong, flexible and polishes beautifully. It is used for things like wooden bowls, decorative elements of furniture and other ornamental household items. The wood burns very well after a few months of seasoning and maple trees can be coppiced to provide fuel.

Growing Field Maple plants:
Acer campestre will grow in pretty much any soil apart from very acidic, peaty earth. It likes thrives on chalk and limestone. It tolerates sites with poor drainage, although it won't grow in a swamp. It will grow well in partial shade or a full day of dappled shade cast by a larger tree growing over it.
Field Maple is fine to grow in the inner city. It is suitable for exposed and very cold sites, but it won't grow on the coast.

Prepare your site before planting:
Native hedge plants like Field Maple are very tough. The only essential preparation is to kill the weeds in a strip a metre wide along the planting site: improving the soil should not be necessary. If your soil is exceptionally poor and dry, then digging in some well rotted manure and/or compost is worthwhile.

Watch our video on how to plant a country hedge for full details.
Remember to water establishing plants during dry weather for at least a year after planting.

Hedge Planting Accessories:
Prepare your site for planting by killing the weeds and grass with Roundup weed killer.
You can buy a hedge planting pack with sheets of mulch fabric and pegs to hold it down.
If you are planting in an area with rabbit and/or deer, you will need to use a plastic spiral guard for each plant, supported by a bamboo cane.
If your soil quality is poor, we recommend using mycorrhizal "friendly fungi" on the roots of new trees and shrubs.
You can also improve your soil with bonemeal organic fertiliser and Growmore.

After you have planted your Field Maple hedge, the most important thing to do is water it in dry weather. You will also need to weed around the plants. Watering should be thorough, so the ground is soaked. Let the soil almost dry out before watering again. Watering & weeding will be necessary for at least a year after planting.

Trimming Country hedge plants: Field Maple is a vigorous, native hedging plant that benefits from being cut back hard right after planting, as shown in the country hedge planting video. In the following years, your young hedge should be trimmed lightly once in winter, until it is mature. When it is fully grown, you can clip it at anytime.

Special notes on caring for Field Maple hedges:
Field Maple is a very tough hedge plant that shouldn't need special attention once it has established. If you didn't use a mulch fabric, it is beneficial to mulch around the base of the hedge each year with well rotted manure or compost.

Hygiene & Diseases:
Dead, damaged or diseased wood can be pruned off as soon as it appears.
Disinfect your pruning tools between every cut if there is any sign of disease.
Burn or dispose of any diseased material, do not compost it.

Read our full terms and conditions here.

Delivery: The basic delivery charge for orders of bareroot plants is £9.49 + vat, which increases to £12.55 + vat if you add any pot-grown plants, standard trees or fruit trees to the order.
Because couriers sometimes experience delays, we schedule delivery by week, not by day. Therefore, please plan your planting day for the weekend at the end of the delivery week or for the week following delivery, at the earliest.
You can choose the delivery week that suits you during checkout and we will email you the day before your plants are due to arrive.

Payment: We do not charge your card until we begin to prepare your order for packing.

Guarantee: If any plants die within a year, we will replace them. We only ask that you follow our planting & growing instructions and sent us clear photographs of the dead plants in situ, so we can help to make sure that the replacement plants succeed. You only pay for the delivery of the replacements.

Please note that our guarantee is void if there is a hosepipe ban in your area: your newly planted hedging must be watered in dry weather while it is establishing. The best way to water is very thoroughly every few days: at least once a week if there is no heavy rain.

Our nursery has been supplying container grown and bareroot hedging plants to gardeners, farmers and town planners since 1949. Our website started in 2003, so we do understand the concerns that you may have about buying hedging plants online. If any of your plants are damaged when they arrive or if you are otherwise not satisfied with your order after you inspect it, please repackage it and contact us. We will give you a refund or send replacements and send a courier to come and collect the unwanted plants.

Your 12 Month Guarantee

If any plants die within a year, we replace them if you have followed our instructions. You only pay for the delivery of the replacements.

Place an order for £250 excluding VAT and delivery and we deliver it for FREE!

Bare-root Plants are only delivered in the winter season, from November to March. Pot grown plants can be delivered all year round

Advantages of Bare-root plants:

You pay less for the same size plants.

You can carry and plan them easily.

You only plant them in winter, so they need less maintenance after planting. The rain will water them for their first few months.

You get the biggest selection: Many trees are not sold pot-grown.

They are "asleep" in winter - this is the best time to transplant any tree.

They use fewer fertilisers & fungicides, less water and fuel in their production & delivery.

Advantages of Pot Grown plants:

Pot grown plants can be delivered & planted all year round.

Plants with tender roots & larger specimens must be delivered in pots.

Plants in pots can be kept for months longer if there is a delay in planting.

Our Advice to You:
If you can't wait to get planting, order Pot grown plants now.
If you are not in a hurry, order bare-root plants for delivery this winter. Simply add them to your basket and choose a winter delivery date that suits you during checkout. This will reserve your plants before they sell out.
We won't charge you until the day before delivery, so cancelling your order is always easy.

If you are only ordering chemicals and other small items, delivery is £3.50

Our delivery charge for most bareroot plants is £9.49 + VAT.

If your order contains any standard sized trees, fruit trees or pot-grown plants, then the delivery charge is £12.55 + VAT in TOTAL.

If you live in the Scottish Highlands or the Isle of Wight, there will be an extra charge of £15 + VAT on top of the appropriate basic charge, as listed above.

If your order is over £250 exc. VAT, there will be no delivery charge.

If you are uncertain, just add items to your basket which will calculate the basic shipping charge for you.