Picture is not at all clear enough to determine if replanting is necessary.......but it doesn't look great.

First, planting high - top of rootball above soil level - is seldom an issue. In fact, it is preferred over planting too deeply.

Second, there are mixed discussions on whether or not rootball wrappings should be removed but at the very least, any fastenings - rope, twine, wire, nails etc. - holding the rootball intact need to be removed. If wrapped in burlap, that should be pulled away from the trunk of the tree and ideally off the top and sides of the rootball as well.

Third, the root flare or where the trunk widens into the root system should be at ground level (or slightly higher) and not covered with soil. Any mulches need to be kept well away from the base/trunk of the tree - about 6" is good.

Thank you gardengal48:)

A little high is good, but that looks WAY too high. And the fact that they left the rope around the trunk and then piled mulch around the trunk tells me that they didn't know what they were doing.

Thanks nurseryman33! Do you think we should have them replant it? How stressful is that for the tree?

It depends. If it was just recently planted, and if they can replant it without breaking up the root ball it should be fine. Was it in a wire basket, and if so, did they remove it? I always cut the bottom off the basket and a couple of the side wires, then place the ball in the hole at the correct depth, and finally cut the remaining wire(s) and remove the basket. A lot of people plant the basket. If they did, it should be easy to replant. If it was planted when it was dormant and has since leafed out, I would wait until fall to replant it.

Umm, actually there is no such thing as TOO high :-) You can even plant with the rootball sitting at ground level - this is often a recommended practice in areas of heavy clay or very poor drainage. You just mound the soil upto the top of the root ball, creating a mini berm.

I'm not at all sure I would assume this tree is planted too high. But it does have way too much mulch piled too high against the trunk. Scrape this away and see what's happening before you decide to replant. And remove as much of the wrappings as possible. Digging and replanting at this time of year is problematic and can put the tree under unnecessary stress. See what can be done to improve the situation before taking that approach.

And find some new landscapers.......ones that know what the heck they are doing!!

I agree that creating a berm area around this tree would be a good solution, because you could leave the tree alone now that it is already planted, and it wouldn't look so strange. I notice none of the vegetation in the background looks like it's coming out of a volcano!