Last year I moved into a house with a lovely mature sugar maple in the backyard. I’d read about exposing root flares on this sub so last summer I started clearing away some of the soil and grass from the base of the trunk and away from some of the larger surface roots.
We had an arborist come check out the tree last spring and they cleaned up some jagged parts leftover from broken branches and they trimmed a few others as well. The tree seems pretty healthy aside from a kind of lopsided canopy and a small hollow on one side.
While clearing the root flare I noticed some root girdling and cut some of the small ones but I wasn’t sure if some of the thicker ones are worth cutting or if I should leave them be? (Specifically pics 1 & 2) I’m also wondering if the root flare looks good enough as is or if I need to expose any more?? (These photos are from midsummer last year so I’ve exposed a little bit more since then but haven’t done too much since I don’t want to overdo it)