On the rear of a the tree, a root had curved around and passed over another root. They grafted to each other at this point, and the root continued on parallel to a root coming from the north side of the tree. The only other major root grows in the reverse direction. There being no roots heading north or south, the tree was quite unstable, rocking back and forth, north and south. When I got the house, the tree was tied to a stake. I removed the stake so the tree could build up some strength.

At the rear of this picture, you can tell where I removed a section of the root that had a potential to be a strangling root. I also hoped that by removing the root, new roots would grow from the cut headed south.