Dirt Mound at Base of Tree

[bills123]

What I think is a sycamore tree with dirt mount and thin layer of mulch. From old pictures it looks like this was added by previous homeowner. They lived here for the last 6 years and it looks like the tree had been there for awhile when they moved in. Any advice on removing the mound? Is it necessary? Are the plants growing under the tree ok? Any help would be great. Thanks.

Edited March 23, 2023 by bills123
Clarification

[Stubby]

12 hours ago, bills123 said:

What I think is a sycamore tree with dirt mount and thin layer of mulch. From old pictures it looks like this was added by previous homeowner. They lived here for the last 6 years and it looks like the tree had been there for awhile when they moved in. Any advice on removing the mound? Is it necessary? Are the plants growing under the tree ok? Any help would be great. Thanks.

Air spade ?

[Stere]

Quote

Any advice on removing the mound? Is it necessary?

 

If it was deeper an more extensive area might cause an issue but it probably won't do much harm. Id say up to you what to do.

 

 

 

Quote

Are the plants growing under the tree ok?

 

Im not keen on Crocosmia × crocosmiiflora if thats what the plants are is as they can be abit invasive and people dump it on verges.

 

But hard to ID atm.

 

 

 

[sime42]

21 hours ago, bills123 said:

What I think is a sycamore tree with dirt mount and thin layer of mulch. From old pictures it looks like this was added by previous homeowner. They lived here for the last 6 years and it looks like the tree had been there for awhile when they moved in. Any advice on removing the mound? Is it necessary? Are the plants growing under the tree ok? Any help would be great. Thanks.

Are you sure it's a sycamore? As the bark looks more like a London Plane to me.

As for the mound of dirt, I'd leave it there. Can't see the whole tree of course, but I don't think it'll be causing it much harm. Judging by the trunk girth the mound is quite small compared to the crown and root spread. It's a great opportunity to grow some nice or interesting beneath tree dwelling plants. Like Primroses, Erythroniums, Cyclamens etc. They won't bother a tree of that size at all.

[bills123]

Unfortunately no.

[Steve Bullman]

4 minutes ago, sime42 said:

Are you sure it's a sycamore? As the bark looks more like a London Plane to me.

As for the mound of dirt, I'd leave it there. Can't see the whole tree of course, but I don't think it'll be causing it much harm. Judging by the trunk girth the mound is quite small compared to the crown and root spread. It's a great opportunity to grow some nice or interesting beneath tree dwelling plants. Like Primroses, Erythroniums, Cyclamens etc. They won't bother a tree of that size at all.

Looking at the fencing and house in the background i'd say he's American, in which case Sycamore is what they call their Plane trees there.

[Mick Dempsey]

3 minutes ago, sime42 said:

Are you sure it's a sycamore? As the bark looks more like a London Plane to me.

As for the mound of dirt, I'd leave it there. Can't see the whole tree of course, but I don't think it'll be causing it much harm. Judging by the trunk girth the mound is quite small compared to the crown and root spread. It's a great opportunity to grow some nice or interesting beneath tree dwelling plants. Like Primroses, Erythroniums, Cyclamens etc. They won't bother a tree of that size at all.

Guessing the op is from the states, they have different common names for trees. Sycamore isn’t what we know as a sycamore.

[Mick Dempsey]

Just now, Steve Bullman said:

Looking at the fencing and house in the background i'd say he's American, in which case Sycamore is what they call their Plane trees there.

And that he used the word dirt for earth, but yeah, beat me to it.

[sime42]

Yeah, I had an inkling this was stateside, clocked the "dirt". Didn't know that about sycamore/plane though. Cheers.

I think also,our Lime is their Basswood Tree.

Any others?

[Dan Maynard]

I'm guessing they call American ash just ash. Cedar for WRC 

 

I only ever call trees by the Latin name to avoid this confusion.

 

 

 

Joking.

 

 

[Steve Bullman]

1 hour ago, sime42 said:

Yeah, I had an inkling this was stateside, clocked the "dirt". Didn't know that about sycamore/plane though. Cheers.

I think also,our Lime is their Basswood Tree.

Any others?

Their sycamore is maple