Tailing ponds, as the storage of solid waste from metal mining processes, contain large amounts of residual heavy metals, potentially posing risks to the ecological environment. Despite extensive research on electrokinetic remediation of metals from tailings, comprehensive studies analyzing the migration dynamics of tailing metals under electric fields from multiple perspectives are limited. In this study, we comprehensively evaluated the removal of heavy metals from both simulated and actual tailings during the electrokinetic remediation processes. Zn, Cu, and Mn in simulated tailings showed accelerated migration rates under a 30 V two-dimensional electric field compared to the actual, achieving maximum removal efficiencies of 42.8 %, 20.1 %, and 52.1 %, respectively. This outcome was attributed to the lower effective concentration of heavy metals observed in actual tailings. Two monocotyledonous Poaceae plants, vetiver grass and sorghum, exhibited a robust growth in the remediated tailings with germination rates of 85 %. Moreover, microbial richness in these remediated tailings was clearly increased, indicating alleviation of heavy metal inhibition. The experimental results demonstrated the effective removal of residual heavy metals from tailings through electrokinetic remediation, alleviating the adverse impacts of heavy metals on both plant growth and microbial diversity, which holds significant implications for future reclamation and ecological restoration of tailing ponds. In conclusion, a comparative analysis between simulated and actual tailings, employing plant growth assessment and assessing the applicability of electrokinetic remediation for addressing metal pollution in tailing ponds from a microscopic perspective, presents a promising research direction.