Tatarian maple

How to recognise it

Habit

Small tree of 4–10 m, in Belgium usually 5–7 m, often multi-stemmed, or a large shrub; the crown is rounded to broad and fairly dense.

Leaf

Opposite, oval, 5–10 cm long, with an irregularly double-toothed edge; usually unlobed, on vigorous shoots sometimes with two or three shallow lobes. Yellow to orange-red in autumn.

Flower

Small, creamy white flowers in upright, loose clusters of 5–8 cm, in May–June, shortly after the leaves open.

Fruit

Paired winged seeds with almost parallel, often overlapping wings of 2–3 cm. They turn bright red in July–August and brown in autumn.

Bark

Smooth and grey-brown; with shallow fissures on older trunks.

Look-alikes

Amur maple (Acer ginnala) from East Asia has glossy, deeply three-lobed leaves with a long middle lobe and turns fiery red in autumn. Field maple (Acer campestre) has palmately lobed leaves, milky sap in the leaf stalk and fruit wings that spread out horizontally.

Flowering: May–June · Pruning: August–September

Why grow it?

• The flowers in May–June provide nectar and pollen for honeybees, wild bees and hoverflies.
• Two seasons of colour: bright red winged fruits in July–August and yellow to orange-red autumn leaves.
• Very hardy and tough: it copes with drought, wind, lime and poor soil better than most maples.
• Stays small: a good tree for a smaller garden, as a multi-stemmed shrub or in an informal hedge.
• In a mixed hedge or shelterbelt it gives cover and nesting places to songbirds.

Tatarian maple: where does it grow best?

• In the wild on woodland edges, in open oak woods, in river valleys and on dry, sunny slopes in the steppe zone, often on chalky soil.
• In the garden: full sun to partial shade. In sun it flowers more freely and the fruits colour more brightly.
• Any well-drained soil, from sand to loam and clay, acid to chalky. It tolerates drought, but not soil where water lies.
• Allow 4–6 m of space for a free-standing tree; in a mixed hedge, plant 50–70 cm apart.

Goes well with

• Cornelian cherry: Flowers as early as February–March and, like the Tatarian maple, likes lime and dry soil: together they make a colourful, tough hedge.
• Dog rose: Flowers for bees in June and hips for birds in autumn.
• Wild privet: Semi-evergreen hedging shrub with fragrant white flowers and black berries for birds.
• Bloody cranesbill: A low, drought-tolerant ground cover for the sunny edge beneath the crown.

Tatarian maple: when and how to plant it?

1. Buy a young tree or shrub in a container or bare-root from a tree nursery; plants of 60–150 cm establish best.
2. Plant bare-root stock from November to March, when the plant is dormant and the soil is not frozen; container plants can go in later, but not in frost or drought.
3. Dig a planting hole twice as wide as the rootball, loosen the bottom and set the plant at the same depth as before.
4. Firm the soil well, water straight away with 10–20 litres and spread a mulch of wood chips or leaf mould around the base.
5. Tie a tree taller than 1.5 m to a short, angled stake for the first two years.
6. Never dig up young trees in the wild: buy them from a nursery.

Care

Watering

For the first two summers, a good can of water every week in dry spells. After that it manages on its own, even in dry summers.

Feeding

Not needed. Leave the fallen leaves under the tree or add a little leaf mould in spring.

Shape

Decide whether you want a single-trunk tree or a multi-stemmed shrub, and prune with that in mind in the first years.

Hedge

As an informal hedge, trim lightly once a year; it also tolerates clipping into a formal hedge.

Suckers

If you want a single-trunk tree, remove shoots from the base of the trunk in good time.

Tip: Give it a sunny spot if you want to enjoy the red fruits: in shade they colour much less. In a small garden it makes a fine substitute for a large maple.

Pruning and mowing

Pruning months: August–September.

When: Preferably in August–September, when the leaves are fully grown. Not in late winter or spring.

How:

• Remove dead, broken and crossing branches, just outside the swollen collar at the base of the branch.
• For a single-trunk tree, gradually remove the lowest side branches and the shoots at the base.
• Rejuvenate a multi-stemmed shrub by sawing one or two of the oldest stems off at ground level every few years.
• Clip a hedge once a year, after the nesting season.

Caution: Do not prune from February to May: maples then bleed a lot of sap from the wounds. With a hedge, always check first that no birds are nesting.

Pruning: when and how · Pruning calendar and basic rules

Propagation

Seed

Pick the fruits in September–October as they turn brown and sow them straight away outdoors in a tray or in open ground. They need a cold winter to germinate; some only come up in the second spring.

Softwood cuttings

In June, take 10–15 cm cuttings from young shoots and root them in moist cutting compost under plastic. This does not always work: sowing is easier.

Tatarian maple: how does it get through the winter?

Hardy to −30 °C.

• Deciduous: the leaves turn yellow to orange-red in October and then fall.
• Very hardy, to −30 °C and colder: it never needs protection.
• Some of the fruits hang on the branches for a long time; seed-eating birds such as the hawfinch eat the seeds.
• The grey-brown branches and multi-stemmed shape give structure to the winter garden.

Diseases and pests

• Verticillium wilt: Caused by the fungus Verticillium: whole branches suddenly wilt in summer, with green-brown streaks in the wood. Cut affected branches back to healthy wood and do not plant another maple in the same spot.
• Coral spot: Small, orange-red pustules on dead branches. Cut out dead wood in good time and take it away.
• Powdery mildew: White powder on the leaves in late summer. Harmless to the tree; an airy spot helps.
• Aphids: Sticky honeydew on young shoots in May–June. Ladybirds, lacewings and tits usually clear them up.

Through the year

• March: Bare-root planting is still possible. Mulch around young trees.
• April: Leaves open. Water young trees in dry spells.
• May: Flowering: creamy white clusters full of bees.
• June: End of flowering. Take softwood cuttings.
• July: The fruits turn red. Water in dry spells, especially in the first two years.
• August: Red fruits. Prune, and clip the hedge after the nesting season.
• September: Pruning is still possible. The fruits turn brown: collect seed.
• October: Yellow to orange-red autumn colour. Sow seed outdoors.
• November: Leaf fall. Plant bare-root stock.
• December: Rest. Plant as long as it is not freezing.

Did you know?

• The name tataricum refers to Tartary, the old European name for the vast steppes of southern Russia and Central Asia.
• In Russia and Ukraine it was widely planted in shelterbelts on the steppe, because it copes well with drought, cold and wind.
• Amur maple from East Asia is so closely related that botanists often treat it as a subspecies of the Tatarian maple (Acer tataricum subsp. ginnala).