George Forrest Snake-Bark Maple Trees

Acer davidii George Forrest Standard Trees

George Forrest has emerald green bark with vertical white stripes. It is a somewhat spreading tree with a loose canopy that doesn't cast dense shade. Suitable for most gardens. It is a vigorous tree when young, quickly reaching about 10 metres, when it slows right down and takes its time to reach a final height of 12-15 metres. The thick, dark green leaves have red stalks and turn peachy yellows and orange red in autumn with bunches of winged seeds. All of which make a tree to plant by a path or lawn, or on the edge of woodland, where it can be seen! Best grown in moist, well-drained soils, George Forrest will tolerate quite wet places and loves heavy clay.

Browse our variety of acer trees or our full range of garden trees.

How Standard Trees are Measured:
All the trees in our garden trees list are graded as standardss. This means that they are graded by their girth in centimetres with the measurement generally taken about 1 metre above ground level (basically, their trunk's waist measurement). They aren't measured by their height, which varies between species. So, a 6/8 standard has a trunk with a circumference of 6-8 centimetres and an 8/10 standard has a trunk 8-10 centimetres around. The bigger measurement means a taller tree and our standard trees are generally between 2.5 - 3.5 metres tall (on average) when they arrive.

Did You Know? 

This tree was introduced to Britain from Yunnan province, China, by George Forrest in the early 1920's. It has won the RHS Award of Garden Merit.

Notes on planting Snake Bark Maple trees:
Snake Bark Maple trees will grow well in most fertile conditions. They tolerate damp soil, chalk and partial shade.

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.