Acer campestre - Maple

The Acer campestre, better known as the field maple, is a very common tree in forests. Of medium size, with a rounded and dense habit, it is noticeable in autumn, when its foliage takes on shades of gold, copper and bronze. Traditionally used in England in hedgerows, it has its place in the garden as an informal hedge or a grove that will form a distant boundary, flamboyant in autumn. This rewarding and undemanding tree also tolerates pruning very well, allowing it to be contained within moderate dimensions.

Native to Europe, Asia Minor, and North Africa, the Acer campestre is more of a forest tree than a field maple. Slow-growing, it will reach an average height of 8m (26ft) and form a crown of 4m (13ft) wide in gardens, if not pruned. Its habit is rather globular and dense. Over time, this species, which can live well over a century, can form several tangled trunks, each carrying a dense canopy. The slightly satin green foliage of this deciduous maple is composed of small leaves, 5 to 10cm (3.9in) long, showing 3 to 5 lobes. The milky sap often oozes from the leaves. Autumn and the first cold weather, colours the foliage in shades of golden yellow, coppery or bronze. The insignificant flowering takes place in spring, at the same time as the leaves emerge. The small flowers are greenish and grouped in corymbs. Winged reddish seeds are formed afterwards. The wings of this fruit are opposite and perfectly aligned. The field maple forms the hardest wood that can be found in this genus. Its bark is pale grey and fissured. The branches of young specimens often show a corky, ribbed, insulating, and channelled bark, used for making perches for poultry, which has earned it the popular name of "chicken wood". Note that when it grows near the Montpellier maple (Acer monspessulanum) the two species hybridize very easily.

Acer campestre is part of our landscapes, which may explain why we stop noticing it until autumn, when it sets the countryside on fire. Very easy to grow, it thrives in any ordinary soil, even limestone, as long as it is deep enough. It will look good in the centre of a flowering shrub bed that will provide the colour it lacks from spring to summer. It can also be associated in a field hedge with deciduous euonymus, Carpinus 'Orange Retz', Cotinus, hawthorns, ornamental apple trees, or its cousin, the Montpellier maple. Plant small shade perennials (lamium, Epimedium, Geranium macrorrhizum, Ophipogon planiscapus 'Niger') at its base to enjoy its beautiful bark and flamboyant autumn colours.