Is a honey locust a good tree to plant in Indiana?
Honey Locust can work here, with caveats. Planted heavily along central-Indiana streets, in commercial lots, and throughout subdivisions, and now the single most common ash replacement in the area. The wild native form is still out in fencerows and old pastures carrying branched thorns on the trunk and limbs that puncture tires and boots — it is the same species as the nursery cultivars but not the same tree to work around.
What you'd be signing up to clean up
The tiny leaflets are the selling point — they blow away instead of needing raking — but they pack gutters, window wells, and pool filters, which is why honeylocust gutter calls spike every November. The straight species and older selections also drop long flat brown pods that need shoveling rather than blowing, while the modern podless cultivars largely skip that.
Where to keep it away from
This is the one tree on the list arborists rarely blame for lifted walks and drives, which is why it fills parking-lot islands and 4-ft sidewalk cutouts across the metro. It tolerates compaction, high pH, drought, and road salt better than almost anything else here, so the salted, stripped-clay north-side subdivisions are where it is still holding on — though roots will surface over time in badly compacted or chronically dry soil.
Related
- How much does it cost to remove a honey locust?→
- Should I remove or save my honey locust?→
- When should a honey locust be pruned?→
- Are honey locust roots a problem for foundations or pipes?→
- Is my honey locust dying or just stressed?→
- How much does it cost to remove an american basswood?→
- Should I remove or save my american basswood?→
- When should an american basswood be pruned?→