Greenfield was not one of the 23 communities in the Indiana DNR street tree sample, so there is no published species breakdown — the honest picture is a two-tier canopy: mature shade trees dating to the historic district's roughly 1880-1947 build-out over those streets and Riley Park, versus small suburban stock in the newer additions. Statewide, Indiana street tree populations run about 18% silver maple and 34% maple overall; Callery pear is common in 1990s-2000s plantings and as of 2026 is still legal to sell in Indiana, with the amendment that would add it to the Terrestrial Plant Rule pending since 2021 — re-check IDNR before advising a customer. That context matters for river birch: river birch is the default subdivision tree in central indiana, planted by the thousand as a three-stem clump because it is the one birch that genuinely resists bronze birch borer. Removing a river birch around Greenfield runs roughly $250–$1,400, and in Greenfield Residential Historic District, Brandywine Village and Fieldstone access is usually what decides where in that range you land.
What's actually growing in Greenfield
Greenfield was not one of the 23 communities in the Indiana DNR street tree sample, so there is no published species breakdown — the honest picture is a two-tier canopy: mature shade trees dating to the historic district's roughly 1880-1947 build-out over those streets and Riley Park, versus small suburban stock in the newer additions. Statewide, Indiana street tree populations run about 18% silver maple and 34% maple overall; Callery pear is common in 1990s-2000s plantings and as of 2026 is still legal to sell in Indiana, with the amendment that would add it to the Terrestrial Plant Rule pending since 2021 — re-check IDNR before advising a customer.
Greenfield's housing stock, and what it means for tree size
Greenfield has a genuinely old core wrapped in new subdivisions. The Greenfield Residential Historic District — 523 contributing buildings on 187 acres, listed on the National Register in 2011 — was built between about 1880 and 1947, so those blocks carry street and yard trees well over a century old, while the Brandywine/US 40 corridor subdivisions are largely 1970s through 2000s with new sections still being added on young nursery stock.
What's specific to river birch
The signature problem here is iron chlorosis — leaves turn chartreuse or yellow with darker green veins, worst on new growth at the top — because river birch wants acid soil and central Indiana's glacial clay typically runs neutral to alkaline. Stress is normal summer leaf drop in a dry August, which a mature river birch does routinely and recovers from; dying is thin, sparse crowns with dead twiggy tips at the top over consecutive seasons and chlorosis that deepens each year, since twig and branch dieback is chronic in this species and the dead parts shed readily.
Hancock County rules
Greenfield has a real tree code — Chapter 97 — but it governs street trees, not your back yard. Under § 97.07 nobody may prune, spray or treat a street tree, or hire someone to, without the city first issuing a right-of-way permit (issued to property owners or certified arborists), and no street tree may be removed without that permit except in an emergency; a City Tree Commission oversees the program and Chapter 97 also sets street tree species, spacing and clearance standards. Those provisions could not be verified against a retrievable copy of the code — confirm with the city before quoting right-of-way work. There is no Greenfield permit requirement for removing a tree on private property, and Indiana has no statewide one.