Answered for Cumberland, Marion County (town limits extend east and north into Hancock County) County.
Central Indiana's heavy clay and high water table make this common, especially in newer subdivisions where topsoil was stripped. In Cumberland, the biggest and oldest trees stand in Old Town along US 40, over houses on a corridor continuously settled since 1831 — that is where a crew will meet 100-plus-year specimens with structures under them on both sides. Buck Creek carries the bottomland canopy, the east-side Hancock County subdivisions date from the 1970s through the 2000s and their canopy is mid-life, and ash has been removed across central Indiana by emerald ash borer; no published street-tree inventory exists for the town. By the time the canopy shows it, the root system is already badly compromised.
Cumberland's canopy and what's at risk
The biggest and oldest trees stand in Old Town along US 40, over houses on a corridor continuously settled since 1831 — that is where a crew will meet 100-plus-year specimens with structures under them on both sides. Buck Creek carries the bottomland canopy, the east-side Hancock County subdivisions date from the 1970s through the 2000s and their canopy is mid-life, and ash has been removed across central Indiana by emerald ash borer; no published street-tree inventory exists for the town.
What to look for
General decline, thin canopy, early autumn colour, sometimes mushrooms at the base.
Whether the tree can be saved
By the time the canopy shows it, the root system is already badly compromised. This is a stability question as much as a health one — a tree with rotten roots can look fine and still come over in a storm.
Timing in Marion County (town limits extend east and north into Hancock County) County
No cure. Improve drainage, reduce load on the tree, or remove.
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