This old cultivar forms a small-leaved, regular, ball shaped shrub. It comes from the UK and was named by Loudon in 1839, introduced by De Vos in the Netherlands in 1895 (MOW). Called 'Globosum' by Bean, it stands strong sun and is drought resistant. A very useful maple for small gardens, or as an accent plant. I forgot to mention, Nanum is sometimes sold as a solitaire (high graft). In this case it makes a perfect and surreal lollipop shape. Since Field Maples take so well to cutting, I imagine it could be formed into cubes or whatever. It would be fun to make a formal alley with a head high, long cubic rectangle of maple on each side!
Well A.campestre is sold by many hedging cos and sometimes called hedge maple so you may not be the first :)
For what it's worth, I remember a neighbour in Burnaby BC planting a row of these in the 1950s along the front of his garden. Walking by every day, I always thought they were a strange choice for a hedge because you could easily see right through the branches, even in summer. The owners obviously liked it because it stood for at least 50 years until the house was torn down. I was pretty young then and didn't learn the name of the maple until much later. I still don't admire it no matter the shape.
It surprises me. "Field maple" hedges are not as compact as the traditional thuya or cupressocyparis, but the hedges they form are very compact, that is if you prune them like you would any hedge.
Yes that was my thought too. They're commonly planted here and make a very good hedge, quite tight, forming sections of the hedge rows along roads. I mean just A. campestre, not the 'Nanum' form. The new growth often has a reddish flush that's very attractive.
I guess you'd have to decide wether you could live with a non-evergreen hedge in winter.Wouldn't suit formal gardens IMO
