Amur Maple, Large Trees

Acer tataricum ginnala: Bareroot Maple Trees in Standard Sizes

Acer tartaricum ginnala is a small ornamental tree with warm red and orange autumn leaves. It has a low, branching habit and neat, rounded head. The tiny, cream coloured flowers are not showy but very fragrant. The seeds are winged "helicopters" called samara and the young stems are a red/brown (they colour up better in full sun), changing within 2 years to an elephant grey. The leaves are typically maple shaped, broadly triangular with three lobes, are dark green on top and pale underneath. The autumn colour is truly excellent, exploding into yellows, golds and reds with touches of purple. An outstanding tree for the edge of woodland, or roadsides.

The biggest recorded specimens were over 10 metres tall, but about 7 metres is typical.

Browse our other Maple varieties, or all of our trees.

Delivery season: Maple trees are delivered bareroot during late autumn and winter, approximately November-March inclusive.
Choosing a size: Small trees are cheaper, easier to handle and more forgiving of less than ideal aftercare, so they are best for a big planting project. If instant impact is your priority, or if you are only buying a few plants for use in a place where it is convenient to water them well in their first year, then you may as well use bigger ones. All our bareroot trees are measured by their height in centimetres above the ground (the roots aren't measured).

Features:

• Height: 7-8m
• Soil: Any well drained
• Great Autumn colour
• Small but fragrant flowers
• Bareroot delivery only: November-March

Growing Amur Maples

This tough tree will grow pretty much anywhere and seems unaffected by polluted roadsides. It produces the best Autumn colour on acidic soils, and probably won't thrive on seriously shallow chalk rock, but otherwise chalky soils are fine. Full sun or partial shade.

Suitable for large containters.

Did You Know?

The consensus seems to be that ginnala should be a subspecies of Acer tataricum, but taxonomists thrive on conflict, and so some insist that it should be A. ginnala should be its own species.

Native to Japan and Eastern China, it was first classified in 1880 by Adrien René Franchet (1834-1900) of Cotoneaster franchetii fame, who was the point of contact at the Muséum national d'Histoire naturelle in Paris for many famous French explorers and plant collectors in Asia, in this case Father Urbain Faurie (1847-1915), who embarked on his mission when he was 26; apart from two years back in France for medical treatment and recuperation, he spent the remainder of his life in Japan, China and Taiwan.

The Amur river, Heilong Jiang in Chinese, is the world's 10th longest.

Standard trees are measured by their girth in centimetres 1 metre above ground level: their trunk's waist measurement. Unlike sapling trees and hedge plants, standards aren't measured by their height, which will vary quite a bit both between and within species.
So, a 6/8cm standard tree has a trunk with a circumference of 6-8cm and an 8/10 standard has a trunk 8-10cm around. This measurement makes no difference to the tree's final height.
On average, standard trees are 2-3.5 metres tall when they arrive, but we cannot tell you precisely how tall your trees will be before we deliver them.

Notes on planting Amur Maple trees:
Amur maple prefers slightly acidic soil. It tolerates alkaline soil but won't grow well on chalk.
It is one of the best maples for damp soil and likes heavy clay, although it prefers moist soils with good drainage.
It grows well in a large container, ideal for a patio or terrace.
Acer ginnala is tolerant of pollution and salt so can be planted by road and sea.

Prepare your site before planting:
It is good to dig over the site where you plant a tree several months in advance. Kill the weeds first: for tough weeds like nettles, brambles and ground elder, you will usually need a weed-killer to get rid of them. When you dig the soil over, remove stones and other rubbish and mix in well rotted compost or manure down to the depth of about 2 spades.

Watch our video on how to plant a tree for full instructions.
Remember to water establishing trees during dry weather for at least a year after planting.

Tree Planting accessories:
Prepare your site for planting by killing the weeds and grass with Neudorff WeedFree Plus.
You can buy a tree planting pack with a wooden stake & rubber tie to support the tree and a mulch mat with pegs to protect the soil around the base of your tree from weeds and drying out.
We suggest that you use mycorrhizal "friendly fungi" on the roots of all newly planted large trees: if your soil quality is poor, we strongly recommend it.
You can also improve your soil with bonemeal organic fertiliser and Growmore.