Field maple is the quick-change artist among maple species. At the heart of its versatility is its size. As its profile tells us, the height of an Acer campestre ranges from a delicate 300 cm to a majestic 2000 cm. This range only makes the Maßholder unpredictable at first glance for creative garden design. This guide explains how to easily control size and use it to your advantage.
How high can a field maple grow?
The height of a field maple (Acer campestre) varies between 300 cm and 2000 cm. This growth area allows the field maple to be used as a hedge plant with a privacy factor or as a solitary tree, whereby the size can be controlled through targeted pruning.
The epitome of a hedge plant with a privacy factor
The field maple's rapid growth of up to 50 cm per year is limited to the youth phase. In the forest, an Acer campestre can ultimately hardly assert itself against strong-growing competitors such as the beech. Therefore, a Maßholder usually grows like a bush. Only under ideal conditions and with a free space of 5 meters will it develop into a solitary tree.
The clever growth strategy makes the field maple the perfect candidate for an opaque hedge. Even impatient gardeners don't have to worry about the deciduous shrub for long until it reaches the desired size. Thanks to its good-natured tolerance to cutting, you can regulate the height with scissors several times a year. This is how it works:
- Main cut: in late winter during the months of February and March
- Care cut by a maximum of a third: shortly after St. John's Day at the end of June
- Topiary pruning for a well-groomed appearance in winter: shortly after the leaves fall in autumn
If you want the field maple to function as a solitary tree, you should regularly prune the trunk in late winter and cut off competing shoots at the base. By nature, the tree strives for multi-stemmed growth, which requires pruning.
Famous field maple giants
Several giant trees testify to the impressive growth power that a field maple contains. In the Bamberg district there is a 28 meter high Maßholder in front of the Ebrach Forestry Office. In Brandenburg near Buckow you can admire one of the highest Acer campestre in Europe, which stretches up to 31.7 meters towards the sky.
Tip
Did you know that the field maple served as a food tree for our ancestors? The expert farmer's wife prepared its leaves like sauerkraut and served the spicy, sour dish with potatoes. A tea made from the fresh bark relieved gastrointestinal problems. To describe the Maßholder as poisonous belongs in the land of fables.
