Red Maple Trees

• Variety: Red Maple, red flowers in spring and red leaves in autumn
• Common name: Red Maple, Scarlet Maple, Swamp Maple
• Latin name: Acer rubrum
• Type: Deciduous tree
• Mature height: More than 12m (40ft), and up to 30m in time
• Spread: More than 8m
• Flowers: Tiny and red, in clusters before the leaves
• Foliage: Dark green, whitish beneath, bright red in autumn
• Soil: Moist but well drained, acid to neutral. Acid soil gives the best colour
• Position: Full sun or partial shade
• Hardiness: H6, hardy through the British winter
• Not for: Paddocks, or anywhere its fallen leaves can reach horses
• Similar varieties: Silver Maple, Autumn Blaze
• Sold as: Bareroot standards, 6/8cm and 8/10cm girth
• Plant: November to April, while dormant
• Delivered: Bareroot, November to April. Collection from Castle Cary also available

Red Maple, Acer rubrum, is a large North American deciduous tree, more than 12m tall and up to 30m in time, with tiny red flowers before the leaves and bright red autumn colour. It wants moist, acid to neutral soil, and its fallen leaves are poisonous to horses.

Red Maple Trees

The Scarlet or Red Maple, Acer rubrum is a big, vigorous tree with dark green leaves that turn a fantastic bright, mottled red and orange in Autumn (in the right conditions, otherwise it'll be more yellow). During winter, the red-brown young twigs provide some interest. In early spring, before the leaves emerge, the branches are covered in puff-balls of red and warm orange flowers. The winged seeds have pink membranes.

It has an upright habit, and makes a great screening tree for a big garden. The biggest specimens in America are over 30 metres tall, but 20 metres is typical in the UK. The canopy is about half as wide as it's tall.

Standard trees are the largest size that we deliver; you can also buy younger Red Maple saplings.
Browse our other Maple varieties, or all of our trees.

Delivery season: Maple trees are delivered bareroot from late autumn to early spring, November to April.
Choosing a size: Small trees are cheaper, easier to handle and more forgiving of less than ideal aftercare, so they're 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's 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).

Red Maple and Horses

Wilted and fallen leaves of this tree are poisonous to horses, causing severe damage to the blood that is often fatal. The standing tree is not the problem: the danger is leaves dropping or blowing onto grazing in late summer and autumn, or a branch coming down in a storm.

Do not plant it where its leaves can reach horses, and keep fallen leaves out of paddocks and out of hay. Red, silver and sugar maples all carry this risk. If you keep horses, take current advice from your vet.

Growing Red Maples

This hardy tree prefers a rich, moist, neutral to acidic soil, which is necessary for good Autumn colour: plenty of sun also helps. It's not recommended for chalk or dry soils: it should grow, but it'll be stunted and won't colour well in Autumn. It loves clay if the pH is right, and although it won't grow in really wet soil like a willow, it doesn't mind winter waterlogging or flooding.
It's suitable for exposed locations, but not on the coast.

History & Trivia

This North American tree was growing in Europe before the 1650's. It is also known as the Swamp or Soft Maple.

The tallest Red Maple on record in the UK was a touch over 24 metres tall, at Bagshot Park, Surrey, measured in 1907, but it is long since gone.

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.

Planting Companions

Silver Maple is the red maple's American cousin, and between them they are the parents of the Freeman maples, of which Autumn Blaze holds the RHS Award of Garden Merit. All three carry the same warning about horses. For autumn colour from a different family, look at Worplesdon Sweet Gum. Other trees on this scale are under trees for large gardens and parkland.

Why Ashridge?

Ashridge has sold trees since 1949 and was named Which? Best Plant Supplier 2025. Your red maple comes as a bareroot standard, lifted while dormant, and like for like a bareroot tree is larger and better value than a potted one. It is guaranteed for 12 months.

Frequently Asked Questions

Will a red maple grow on chalk?

Not well. The RHS lists red maple for acid and neutral soils only. On chalk or dry ground it lives, but it stays stunted and the autumn colour is poor. Plant a field maple there.

Why is my red maple's autumn colour poor?

The soil, not a disease. The RHS says acid soils give the best autumn colour, and the tree wants moisture and sun as well. On neutral or limy ground expect more yellow than red.

Will red maple grow on wet ground?

Yes, up to a point: swamp maple is one of its names, and it puts up with winter waterlogging and flooding. It is not a willow, though, and will not stand in water all year.

When should I prune a maple tree?

In late summer. Maples bleed sap if you cut them in spring. A standard red maple needs little pruning beyond removing dead, damaged or crossing branches.

How big does a red maple grow?

More than 12m tall and 8m wide, and the RHS gives up to 30m for old trees. About 20m is typical in Britain. This is a tree for a large garden or a field.

Is red maple native to Britain?

No. It comes from eastern and central North America and has been grown in Europe since the seventeenth century. Britain's one native maple is the field maple.