Put dirt around it or dig it up and plant it lower.

I think I would add enough soil to cover the fine roots mostly, add some mulch to prevent erosion. the tree may sink a bit over time. I personally would be afraid to lower it . It is better than planting too low. The tree will adapt if it doesn't settle. That's my opinion. There are many more knowledgeable than me on this site, though. Don't put mulch against the bark though, just enough to cover the fine roots outward from the trunk.

I will pile on and concur with above advice to leave as is. Cut off the little exposed roots you see, mulch correctly, on to your next project.

That thing was planted so deep, for so long, at nursery that it sent out a those adventious roots mentioned. Hard to tell if that's even the actual root flare. You could almost make argument it's still a little too deep.

I'll stick with the "depth looks good, needs mulch" side of debate.

I'm not sure if this picture is any better. The main concern I had when I first started trimming the adventious roots was that whole side of the trunk at that level is concaved in. It seems if I were to keep trimming I'd start doing real harm. I'll try building up a bit and mulching around. Hopefully it will settle like some of you suggested.

Last picture from the other side.

I experienced a similar situation with a sugar maple a couple years ago (although the new flare on mine was better defined than on your tree). I basically planted mine at about the same depth as you have yours planted and mounded up the soil to cover the adventitious roots (those roots are DEFINITELY adventitious!). Then mulch on top of the soil.

My tree has done very well since, and the new root flare has really gained caliper in just two years.

Here is a link that might be useful: Topic

I agree with Brandon, et al, in thinking these are adventitious roots, the tree is not planted too high, it may well still be planted too deep......and the predicament then is what, if anything to do about it. This is a judgement call. But at least in so far as these photos indicate, I'm not seeing any root flare there. Do you happen to know-was this a grafted tree? As such, the minor swelling in the area shown here is the graft union, not the root flare. Well-qualified individuals can disagree about what step to take next.

+oM

anybody care.. what kind of tree it is ...

might make predictions about its future a little more pertinent.. dont you think???

do not replant .... proper planting in clay ... involves planting high like you did ... and mounding good draining soil to cover the roots above the clay ... go figure.. you did it perfect for clay soil ... lol.. so what if you dont have clay ... lol

whats the tree ID??? ... might matter.. might not ...

ken

It's a columnar red maple, but I'm not sure the specific variety. I bought it at a big box store at a very discounted price - it was the last one they had. It looked (and still looks) really good. I don't think it was returned or neglected, but also don't know the history or if it was grafted.

I'll go ahead and pile up some soil on the side with the adventitious roots and mulch the area around - that seems to be the consensus. I understand it could be a problem of too low, but I'm not confident replanting or doing anything major - I'd likely do more harm than good.

Thank you all for the input!

It's grafted. The adventitious roots are arising at the graft union which is easily visible as the slanted line of raised wood across the trunk that ties into where the new roots arise. IMHO, don't replant, and raise a small mound around it to the level of the new roots. O2 will still permeate to both sets of roots, and just let the tree sort out which roots it wants to develop. This is exactly what Jon was saying. It worked with his Sugar Maple, and SM is much less forgiving of being planted too deep IMHO than Red Maple, since RM is often on flood planes which means their roots can be buried/submerged from time to time.

Arktrees

Thanks again for all the help. I cleaned up around the tree and added some mulch. After looking at it some more I'm convinced it's planted too deep. I removed some of the adventitious roots, and I see know where it was grafted. Those roots were right at the graft seam, and when removed it was pretty obvious I needed to dig down a little bit more. Again, I'm not confident replanting it, so hopefully where it's at now will keep it healthy.

Planting looks better. With proper aftercare, you will likely have little problem.

Note however, you DO NOT have a "Red Maple". You have a red/purple leafed mutant "NORWAY MAPLE". Red Maple is a U.S. native, while the Norway orginates from Europe. The later is problmatic in much of the country, especially in the Northeast. However in Utah, it likely is of little thread to native species diversity.

Arktrees

Norway maple is also the maple most likely to succumb to stem girdling roots when mature as well. Attention to detail when planting and manipulating the roots is critical for the long term health of the tree.

What is that wall behind it? Is that a retaining wall, or a house? I ask because looks like the tree is awfully close to it. And this is not going to be a small tree.

Richard.

drrich, his climate will naturally stunt the tree. I thought the same thing then saw OP lives in Utah

It's a retaining wall. There's an empty lot behind my back fence, which is why I was looking for some columnar trees to plant near the wall. Also looking at adding a Frans Fontaine Hornbeam and a Kindred Spirit Oak along the wall.