its telephone pole

pull back mulch and soil until you find the root flare ...

and give us some pertinent info .. like when planted.. how.. who did it.. how its been watered .... etc ..

throw in location ...

ken

https://www.google.com/search?q=root+flare&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjpk4GNjrfPAhVMzoMKHaYXBCUQ_AUICSgC&biw=1037&bih=745&dpr=0.9

Hi Ken,

We're first time homeowners so this is all new to us. Thanks for quick reply

We planted the tree at the end of summer last year. We of course watered it daily like instructed after we first planted..after that we didn't need to water much at all due to regular rain until this last drought. I'll honestly say we probably didn't water it until a week or so had passed and realized it needed water. After that I tried to water thoroughly every few days. With light watering by our sprinkler system in between.

We are in delaware.

I did notice a bunch of tiny mushrooms (I think?) Growing in the mulch around the tree here recently. It's been raining for a few days straight and they appeared.

One way to think about root flare is to look in the mirror and think of your neck as the trunk. You can see how your neck widens out at the base to become your shoulders. You want that wider part of your neck to show above the soil, as if you were wearing a boat-necked shirt. I know that this sounds slightly idiotic but for some reason this explanation is often clearer to people when I am explaining this in workshops, presentations, etc.

That is an excellent way to explain it!

Not sure if that's a man or woman..

Thank you for your help. I had nooooo idea root flare was even a thing lol I instead thought we were doing the tree some good, providing extra insulation ;) I'll be digging the flare out today.

Those wounds weren't there before so we have no idea where they came from :( But it's good to know the tree isn't doomed

Lane Clark it's tree, we humans are dioecious but sometimes the males and females look very similar and you have to wait for fruit to form to determine which is which. Some have even been known to change sex later in life.

Model looks like they have a beard.

Hi guys. So we dug around the tree and found big knots of roots not too far down.

Lane Clark, if you are single and really having a problem telling that that's a man, you might want to check your date's driver's license before you go out next time! I guess you never know for sure until you do, but he does not look like most women I've seen!

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Sara, I've never seen that analogy before. I also agree that it's a pretty good one. Easier to post that picture than to try and describe the situation with lots of words. It also looks like it would make a good memory tool for people that were learning about the subject.

Yes, miro_fawn, I would keep going. Also, if it were me, I would remove the encircling (future girdling) roots. You don't have to actually pull them out, but they need to be cut at a point before they start wrapping around the trunk. You are uncovering a potential problem there, so don't stop yet.

Thank you for the help. I'm learning lol I was afraid disturbing those roots would harm the tree. There's no way to dig deeper without like ripping the webbed roots up out of the way. So not to sound stupid, but what exactly should I do with all those roots? I was actually very suprised there were so many so fast! Some of them are pretty thick roots. Most of them are the small ones.

So which ones do I cut and where do I actually cut them? And all the roots and root ends basically laying on the surface... do I cut those off too?

It looks to me like you may be getting close to a root flare. The trunk appears to be bulging out, like in Sara's picture, just a little above where the shirt is located. You aren't all the way down to where the original roots emerge (like the area at the shirt) yet though.

The roots showing in the picture above are insignificant for keeping the tree alive. You can chop them out of the way without worry. The ones that grow around the trunk should be cut before where they start circling around the trunk. It won't hurt to chop out a section of them, if you need to to keep digging down, but you don't have to chop out but a small section to ensure the root is severed (so as not to continue to grow into a girdling situation).

Sometimes (as we've discussed in this forum before), maples can deal with encircling roots by fusing the tissue into the trunk, or, by expanding and actually breaking the encircling root. If this was 10 years down the road, and the encircling roots were large, it might not be the best solution to remove them. But, with what I am seeing above, I'd definitely take care of them in this situation. It's easy and reduces the chance of problems later on.

Lots of helpful information. Thank you very much

Everyone else has got to this thread before me LOL! Not much more to say, remove girdling roots......

Not saying it wasn't planted too deeply, it was.

Do you all think the visible problem was caused by being planted too deeply though? This looks similar to other pictures of large transplants we see on here.

My first thought was mechanical damage and recent then I was looking for signs of rot or canker remembering when I pruned a branch on my acer rubrum then had to go back a few months later and cut an apparently infected section out.

This looks recent or to be spreading. I see no evidence of encapsulation. Although I suspect a stressed transplant isn't putting on much girth.

Those wounds weren't there before so we have no idea where they came from

==>>> when you deal with trees.. you have to think about tree time ...

those injuries could be 2 or 3 years old ... but only recently showed ...since you say they werent there at planting ...

i suspect it happened at the tree farm ... and occurred either at digging.. hauling.. trucking.. delivery .. not to mention delivery to your house.. and planting ...

not every injury is catastrophic and shows immediately ...

if you do further planting.. buy smaller.. and plant in the proper season.. and bare root a potted tree ... see link for general guidelines ... including timing.. dpeth.. etc ...

a smaller tree just takes all the stresses easier... and usually outgrows the larger.. instant gratification tree ...

ken

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

In the second pic down, looks like a horizontal "line" is visible like a weed-wacker would cause. Anyway, that damage isn't fatal, but make sure it doesn't happen again. And of course there's the girdling root issue that has been addressed.

Jeesh, are plant suppliers ever going to address this ever-present girdling root issue?