you do NOT need an arborist to REMOVE it ... only if you want to pay for an opinion as to your ability to save it..

but i will save you that money ..

its telephone poled.. bark is made.. to be in the air.. and whoever planted this tree.. planted it much to deep .. you should be able to see the trunk/bark interface with the roots ...

there is no stake made.. that would be big enough to 'hold' that tree straight.. that you would want to look for.. forever ... besides the fact.. that.. tree dont all need to be straight ...

i also see improper pruning ... in the 2nd pick ...

i dont care what it is.. its gotta go ...

the prior owner.. created.. and left you a total nightmare..

and i would suggest.. that if you want to learn.. that you learn how to do it right .... and plant your own ....

when i moved into my first house.. i finally got rid of the last prior owners nightmare... 5 years after i moved in.. and then it struck me.. that i wasted 4 years.. lol ...

get rid of it.. if i havent mentioned that.. and plant your own future nightmares..

good luck with the new house ...

ken

95% chance, improper planting resulted in this mess. Looks like the tree was never able to grow a sufficient root system to hold itself up. When potbound trees are planted without addressing the misformed root system, this is what generally happens. Whoever planted this tree was not qualified to do so.

As Ken said, prune at ground level and plant (properly) a replacement.

Here is a link that might be useful: Planting a Tree or Shrub

I could be totally wrong, but the bark on the tree looks like the Sycamores that are near me. But it's a young one, as the older ones are pretty tall. They are great trees, imho. As for the leaning, it happens when trees aren't planted straight. This one looks to be trying to go straight on it's own. I have a large and mature Hemlock in my yard that started growing crooked like that many years ago. Otherwise it's a fine tree.

But yeah, that is too much mulch right up against the trunk. Pull it away, soon.

I would disagree with a couple of people I respect greatly and argue against removing the tree if it's a Sycamore, leafing out, stable and in otherwise good health.

Keep us posted....

vince

It is planted awfully strange. It isn't soo large you have a true disaster just a bit of money or time for removal.

HOA.

The HOA decide to do that planting also?

Seriously, they limit you to two kinds of trees? OMG. Talk about 1, handing over your rights to the government and 2, asking for the mighty oak / cedar emerald gypsy bug to come by and defoliate the whole neighborhood.

That is just begging people to get used to the government making decisions for them and begging for an environmental disaster.

Perhaps for replacement we can help pick a tree with oak or cedar in the common name but a different actual scientific name and different genetics.

I would get rid of the tree if for no other reason than a tree leaning that far over is ugly imo and takes away curb appeal of your property. Remove the tree and start over.

I am too soft-hearted so would be tempted to try and save it.
I would remove the mulch and enough soil to find the root flare them build a ring of some sort to keep the soil away. I'd spend a fortune to make it decorative and nice looking with flowers and rock borders.
Then I would sit back and watch it for two years or so.
Then one day it would strike me how ridiculous it looked and I and what a prime spot of interest it wasted and would tear it out and likely damage my back because I waited so long to do so.

Save yourself the grief and start over now.
But get a plan and educate yourself first- the front of your home is important and done well can enhance your enjoyment every time you come home.
Done poorly it is "Oh, #$%Y" every time you pull into the driveway.

I can't understand how anyone could look at the provided pictures and think that the tree might be stable. If it were stable, the large gap between the tree and the surrounding soil wouldn't exist. The tree is falling over. It may be a matter of hours or a matter of years, but chances are very good that it will eventually collapse. The larger it gets, the more potential damage it may do and the harder it will be to clean up.

IMO, excavating the root flare is an exercise in futility, at best. The tree has obviously been there for a while, and the damage from improper planting depth (if any) has already been done. Changing the relative surface depth now will not resurrect dead roots and is unlikely to improve the tree's condition in any way. It could even be counter-productive by killing/damaging adventitious and adaptive roots and by making a sunken area around the base of the tree that would hold/funnel water. Of course the biggest reason that the procedure would be a waste, in this case, is that the tree needs to be removed anyway.

"The HOA decide to do that planting also?
Seriously, they limit you to two kinds of trees? OMG. Talk about 1, handing over your rights to the government"

Oh the irony..... HOA are civil society's response to less government.

Ding, ding, ding. You are EXACTLY correct Smivies!

But, regardless of the politics or lack thereof, limiting plantings to two kinds of trees is bizarrely nuts. There are good points and bad points about HOAs, but sometimes the news stories are hard to believe.

Thank you all!

To clarify: our housing community is still 'under development' so the HOA is really just the developer. They won't officially hand over the reigns to the HOA until the entire community is complete. Since they're still developing, they 'want to maintain a certain look' in the community and blah blah blah. We're officially allowed to plant 7 different varieties of trees in the front yard, but it's really three different varieties, each, of oak and cedar, and then magnolia trees. We can plant anything but palm trees in the back yard. (i know it's random.)

The tree was most likely planted by the developer originally. It has the same mulch volcano that I see in a lot of the new houses. We talked to an arborist after reading everything here and he's going to come do a free estimate and let us know how much it would be to remove it so I can plant a magnolia instead.

Sheesh! I'd bet good money that tree *never* rooted in.

Look at the gap around the trunk. It's been waving back and forth in the breeze for a very long time.

What with the complications of having an active HOA, better check before you attempt anything with it. HOA may forbid you to remove it. Or may fine you big money.

I neglected to add -- Bet you can rock the thing back and forth while using just one hand. A *very* strong indication of no decent roots.

It could be it's still in the original container or the burlap is still in place.

The bark looks like a sycamore but the form is not right for sycamore IMHO. The tree looks small enough for self removal, unless scale is not as I imagine it is. I just removed a sycamore with borers that was pretty big (6 years in ground) unless your neighbors are superclose to the tree. It was 7 inches diameter, just do it in sections. If it can be saved some of the most picturesque trees are far from straight, look at some southern live oak trees. That tree reminds me of our Elberta peach tree before we tore down the shed next to it, it was leaning a bit but not ugly.

Lacebark elm? They are known to lean a little. I think your tree should be removed. Get something more appropriate for the size of your lot and a tree that is more drought adapted for your area in case of water restrictions.