Norway Maple, Large Trees

Acer platanoides: Bareroot Norway Maple Trees in Standard Sizes

The Norway Maple, Acer platanoides, is a large, upright tree with good autumn colour that is vase shaped when young, spreading into a round crown as it ages. Its small, yellow green flowers appear slightly before the leaves break in spring and attract bees. The Autumn colour is variable from impressive yellow to quite muted marmalade orange.

They can reach a height of about 25 metres, potentially more in a wood.

We only sell this tree as a standard, not as younger saplings. You can also buy two ornamental varieties: Drummondii and Crimson Sentry.

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: 20-30m
• Soil: Any with decent drainage, except very poor and dry
• Yellow Autumn colour
• RHS Plants for Pollinators
• Bareroot delivery only: November-March

Growing Norway Maples

This hardy and unfussy tree will grow in almost any soil apart from peat or shallow chalk, and it won't thrive on very poor, dry soil. It loves clay and although it won't grow in wet soil, it doesn't mind a bit of winter waterlogging or flooding. It is quite shade-tolerant and totally pollution resistant.
It is suitable for very exposed locations, but not on the coast.

Other plants generally don't grow under it due to the shade it casts and the dense root system.

Did You Know?

This tree has been naturalised in Britain for a very long time. Its native range is all over Europe. The first written account of it here is from 1683, when young trees raised in Holyrood Palace were transplanted to a garden in Edinburgh by George Sutherland.

You could tap mature trees for their sap in early Spring (a sunny day after frost is best) as you would a sugar maple, but it is much less sweet.
The hard wood has a fine grain but is not strong enough for structural uses; it is mainly used for cabinets and other indoor furniture.

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 Norway Maple trees:
Norway Maple will grow well in any soil with average drainage, apart from very poor, dry soil. It will grow on both acidic and chalky sites. It is quite shade tolerant and suitable for exposed, cold locations or inner city planting.
It is not suitable for planting on the coast.

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.