Answered for Franklin, Johnson County.
A fruiting body is the reproductive organ of a fungus that has already been eating the inside of the tree for years. By the time anything shows on the outside, decay is established in the root plate or the butt of the stem — the exact structural zone that holds the tree upright. This is the one common finding where an outwardly healthy tree can come over whole, roots and all, in an ordinary thunderstorm. It is an anchorage question, not a branch question. In Franklin — Martin Place Historic District, Franklin Lakes and Knollwood Farms included, that's normally a hazardous tree removal job at $800–$5,000. Within weeks.
The defining local event is the June 2008 flood — widespread stream flooding, with the city later buying out damaged properties. On tornadoes, NWS Indianapolis logs 23 in Johnson County from 1950-2025, including the F3 that tore through Greenwood on September 20, 2002 ($25.0M), an F2 at Greenwood on March 31, 2006, and the EF3 at New Whiteland on March 31, 2023 ($6.670M).
Franklin is not among the 23 communities in the Indiana DNR street tree sample, so the two-tier picture here is inference from build dates rather than inventory: the pre-1935 blocks around Martin Place and the courthouse square carry the oldest, largest shade trees, while the late-1990s subdivision belt is now 25-30 years old and big enough that crowns are into rooflines and service drops. Ash is effectively gone to emerald ash borer, and the city Tree Board's approved street tree list governs what goes back into the right-of-way.
No permit is required to remove a tree in your own yard. Franklin's tree ordinance regulates STREET trees only: pruning, planting, treating, spraying or removing a street tree goes through a Tree Board permit, and topping is restricted. The ordinance's specific conditions — who may hold a removal permit, the trimming threshold, insurance and bond requirements and penalty terms — could not be verified from a retrievable source, so confirm them with the City before quoting right-of-way work.
The strip is the city's. Franklin's ordinance defines a street tree as one on real estate owned or controlled by the City, including anything in the public right-of-way, and an abutting owner may apply for a permit to plant or maintain a street tree at their own risk and expense. The ordinance is reported to treat trees within a set distance of the curb as city street trees where the right-of-way line cannot be determined — that presumption is unverified, so confirm the right-of-way line with the City before removing any tree near the curb.
201 S Morton St, Franklin, IN 46131
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1251 U.S. Hwy 31 N, Greenwood, IN 46142
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4035 E Stop 11 Rd, Indianapolis, IN 46237
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8909 Chitwood Dr, Indianapolis, IN 46227
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5741 Gallagher Dr, Greenwood, IN 46142
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597 Shady Brook Hts, Greenwood, IN 46142
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Distance measured from Franklin.