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I think this tree is dead — what should I do?

Bare when everything around it has leafed out. Bark sloughing off in sheets leaving smooth grey wood underneath, shelf fungi or conks on the trunk or root flare, woodpecker excavation, mushrooms in the root zone after rain, and fine branches that snap off cleanly and dry instead of bending. Structural decline on a clock rather than a present emergency. A tree is not dangerous the day it dies — it becomes dangerous as decay fungi consume the wood holding it up, and that consumption runs a predictable route: fine twigs first, then branches, then the trunk, while root decay works upward independently and invisibly.

What to do about it

Within weeks. Normally a tree removal job, $400–$1,900 around Indianapolis depending on size and access.

Can the tree be kept

No — dead is dead, and no treatment reverses it. But it does not automatically have to come down. A dead tree standing in open ground away from any target is legitimate wildlife habitat and can be left as a snag, or shortened to a safe height and left standing on purpose. The decision is set entirely by what sits underneath it, not by the tree's condition.

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