Is my concolor fir (white fir) dying or just stressed? (Fortville, Indiana)

Is my concolor fir (white fir) dying or just str…

Fortville is two towns stacked on each other: a platted-1849 core between Main Street, Broadway and Memorial Park where the housing is late-1800s to early-1900s, and a new-construction ring north and east built on cropland since roughly 2015. Population went 3,929 (2010) to 4,784 (2020) and has kept climbing, so a large share of the roofs are under ten years old with nursery-stock trees to match. That's the thing that decides what a concolor fir (white fir) here is likely to be — a mature specimen over a roofline, or nursery stock still establishing. Removing a concolor fir (white fir) around Fortville runs roughly $250–$1,400, and in Mt. Vernon North, Beyers Estates and Manship Estates access is usually what decides where in that range you land.

What's actually growing in Fortville

The most concrete local evidence is the town's own prohibited-species list (Ch. 95.22, adopted 2002), which bars silver maple, box elder, cottonwood, all willows, all elms, mulberry, Lombardy poplar, tree of heaven, black walnut, black locust, paper and European white birch, southern catalpa, Bradford pear and ginkgo except seedless cultivars from any public street, alley or park planting. Mature shade trees line the old core, the north and east subdivisions carry five- to ten-year-old planted stock, and ash is effectively gone statewide from emerald ash borer.

Fortville's housing stock, and what it means for tree size

What's specific to concolor fir (white fir)

Dieback starts at the top and the leader and works downward, which is the signature of a root problem and the opposite of the bottom-up interior browning you see from foliar disease on spruce. Interior needle shed and some color fade are normal; a limp or dead leader with needles that pull off green means check the root flare and the drainage, not the foliage.

Hancock County rules

No permit is needed to remove a tree in your own yard. Fortville does, however, have a real tree code — Chapter 95, the "Town of Fortville Tree and Flora Ordinance" (Ord. 2002-7A) — and it is stricter than most towns this size. A permit is required to plant anything in the town right-of-way (95.18). Topping or severe trimming of public trees is forbidden (95.11). No arboricultural work may be done on a town tree without a special permit from the Tree Program Supervisor (95.19). A separate special permit is required before a builder destroys or significantly alters forest or woodland during subdivision, grading or construction (95.21). Illegal removal or damage carries fines of up to $1,000 per violation plus replacement billed at $100 per DBH inch (95.99). Section 95.10 places clearance duties over streets, alleys and sidewalks on the property owner; the specific heights should be confirmed with the town.

Is my concolor fir (white fir) dying or just stressed?

What's actually growing in Fortville

Fortville's housing stock, and what it means for tree size

What's specific to concolor fir (white fir)

Hancock County rules

Crews near Fortville

Pro Finish Tree Care

Broken Oak Tree Service LLC

Witsken Tree Removal

JT Tree Service

IndyArborist.com Tree Service LLC

ASAP Tree and Crane Services

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