Acer campestre

Yes, field maple (Acer campestre) makes an excellent hedge. It is native, very hardy, grows on almost any soil including chalk and clay, and clips into a dense formal shape while still supporting wildlife. Its butter yellow autumn colour is a lovely bonus.

Field maple usually grows 30 to 60cm a year once established, which makes it a moderately fast hedging plant. Young bare-root plants form a dense hedge within a few growing seasons with regular trimming. Watering through the first two summers helps it establish quickly.

Bare-root field maple whips are usually planted at 3 to 5 per metre in a single row, or around 5 per metre in a staggered double row for a thick wildlife hedge. Larger plants are spaced by width, at 100 divided by the width in cm, so a plant 50cm wide goes in at 2 per metre. The team confirms spacing for each order.

No, field maple is deciduous and drops its leaves in autumn after turning yellow. A well-clipped field maple hedge is still dense and twiggy in winter. If you want a hedge that holds its dead leaves through winter, beech and hornbeam are the classic choices.

Clip a formal field maple hedge once or twice a year, in summer and late summer, checking first for nesting birds. Informal and wildlife hedges are best cut in winter, every year or two. Field maple responds well to trimming and recovers well from hard cutting.

Yes, field maple is one of the best hedging plants for chalk and alkaline soils. It also grows well in clay, loam and dry soils, in sun or part shade. This adaptability is why it is so common in hedgerows on chalk downland.

A field maple hedge is easily kept at around 1.2 to 3m (4 to 10 ft) with regular clipping, and it can be allowed to grow taller as a screen. Left unclipped, field maple becomes a medium-sized tree of around 10 to 15m.

The best time to plant field maple is in the dormant season, roughly November to March, when bare-root plants are available. Root-balled plants are planted from around October or November to March, and pot-grown plants can be planted at any time with regular watering.

Yes, field maple is a valuable native hedge plant for wildlife. Its flowers feed early insects, its leaves support many invertebrates, and a thick hedge gives birds cover and nesting sites. It is a key species in a mixed native hedge.

Both are native, hardy and clip well. Field maple has lobed leaves, bright yellow autumn colour and thrives on chalk, while hornbeam holds some of its brown leaves in winter when clipped and is especially good on heavy clay. Choose field maple for autumn colour and wildlife, and hornbeam for more winter screening.

The cost of a field maple hedge depends on the height, the format and the tier you choose. Value hedging uses younger bare-root, root-balled or pot-grown plants for an affordable hedge that knits together over a few seasons, while Premium hedging uses fuller, more mature plants and ready-made hedge elements for a finished look straight away. Live prices for each size are shown on this page, and the team confirms the spacing and final price for every order.

Yes. You are welcome to visit our Row Town showroom in Surrey, open Monday to Saturday and on bank holidays and closed on Sundays, to see hedging in person. You can also book a Genus Bar appointment at formplants.com/genus-bar for dedicated one-to-one time with the team to plan quantities and sizes.