Removing excess soil around the base of a tree may help it to recover when it has been planted too deeply. The length of time the tree has grown under the poor conditions may influence the success of recovery. Over time, the tree will try to establish new roots in the surface soil. If these roots are present, it may be difficult to remove the excess surface soil. Tree replacement may be the only option.
If the surface soil was applied only recently (or if the tree has been transplanted recently), it may be easier to correct the situation by removing soil or lifting the tree and transplanting to a more favorable depth.
In any case, an attempt to restore the tree to a more favorable growing depth by either transplanting or removing surface soil would be advised.
