All it can do to recover the space is droop down from above over the years. You may not see much improvement for a long time, and you may never see it reach back to the ground.

Maybe it would be better to cut if for Christmas and start over with another tree for the yard.

Ok, will do. But what is telephone poling?

When you plant a tree, there should be a flare showing on the trunk where the roots begin. If this root flare doesn't show we refer to it as being planted like a telephone pole. You need to expose that root flare.

tj

I may have a worse problem then with the other tree they sunk last year. It was so deep the lower bows are coming up out of the dirt 12 inches from the trunk of the tree. If I dug down to expose those roots, I'd be digging way way down, and then have a tree that is lower than the yard. Will a norway spruce tree buried this deep eventually die? I'll need a fork lift to lift it to the proper height, and then what about the roots that have already begun to grow?

who planted them.. and why did they sink?

ken

there is no reason to get rid of it.. due to the pruning ... period ... in fact.. you wont now abuse it with the lawnmower and weedeater ....

as to whether it dies due to being planting too deep.. probably.. sometime in the next decades or two ... who knows ...

an example below of a trimmed up tree, if i can find it ... lol

ken

Sometimes, on a young seedling, burying it too deep is not an issue. With an older tree such as yours, it will likely be an issue later. The trouble is, the cells on the trunk above the root flare are not meant to be below ground and usually end up dying. If they die all the way around the trunk, you tree is girdled and it dies. Now, the folks who planted it will say, "I've been planting trees for decades without a problem." But when your tree dies in 5, 10, 15 or 20 years will you blame the baboon that planted it? No, and that's why they think they don't have a problem.

tj

PS to Ken- where is your link for "How to Plant a Tree"?

I sure appreciate all the thoughtful and expert responses. Thank you all so much! I will dig down and find those root flares, even if it means my tree sits in the bottom of a bowl in my yard. The builder's landscape guy planted them, and probably just dug the hole too deep with his giant auger attached to his back-hoe.

Thank you also for the picture of the large spruce that has been limbed up. I only limbed up about 12 to 14 inches, so if I don't do it anymore, by the time the tree is really large it probably won't seem too bad.

I'm still mad at myself though. 45 years old and still making dumb mistakes ;)

Those guys with the augers and the bucket trucks can sure do some serious damage to trees! Tree torture is rampant here, some even hire the bucket truck guys to do it. And if the power company guys are behind it, it's Katy, bar the door!!

how to plant...: https://sites.google.com/site/tnarboretum/Home/planting-a-tree-or-shrub

i figured it was a builder deal ... based on looking seep into the pic ..

as to my pic ... i had a kids pool to the left.. i wnated to sit under the tree.. in the shade ... hence the pruning ... its now about 10 years later. ... and the bottom branches.. are about 3 feet from the ground.. the major part of the branches did not go down.. but the branchlets off such.. did ..

the bottom line.. how i remember it... roots like to be cool and moist.. to do their job... bark is meant to be DRY ... by putting park underground.. you will rot it ... and the vascular system of the tree... the cambian layer.. is just below that bark ... rot the bark ... kill the tree ...

dig down.. give us a few pics... maybe we can come up with some ideas ... like an wall of one or two or 3 retaining blocks.... to hold the soil back ... there has to be a term for that.. but its escaping me.. to google you a pic ...

ken