Carmel's canopy and what's at risk
Carmel Urban Forestry publishes an approved species list (last revised 3/28/2024) whose "Undesirable Trees" section reads like a field guide to what fills older Hamilton County streets: silver maple (shallow roots, weak wood), Callery pear, pin oak, red maple and all Fraxinus for emerald ash borer. Approved large street trees run to swamp white oak, bur oak, chinkapin oak, hackberry, male-only ginkgo, thornless honeylocust, Kentucky coffeetree, baldcypress and London planetree; note Callery pear is discouraged locally but is not yet banned in Indiana — 312 IAC 18-3-25 currently lists 44 species without it.
What to look for
Brown blotches along leaf veins, early leaf drop, sometimes twig dieback. Worst after a cool wet spring.
Whether the tree can be saved
Almost never fatal on an established tree. It looks alarming, the tree defoliates, and then it leafs back out. Most calls about it don't need a treatment at all.