The thieves were smart enough to recognize that the old Japanese maple in a Mercer Island yard was worth thousands.

That's where the smarts ended.

The tree probably looked like an easy haul. It had been dug up, its roots neatly packaged into a burlap ball for a move the next day. But the Japanese maple was a lot heavier than its graceful bare limbs suggested, weighing in about 2,000 pounds.

"They were stupid," said Sharon Ronsse, the nursery owner coordinating the move. "They tried to move it, broke the root ball. It took five years of babying to recover it."

Transplanting big old trees involves more than shovels and a big truck. It requires skill, patience, the right conditions and often thousands of dollars. It's risky -- for the tree and the mover. Only a handful of businesses in Snohomish County do it.

Ronsse's company, Woods Creek Wholesale Nursery in Monroe, is one of them. The nursery, which she co-owns with husband Dennis Gallagher, sells 500 kinds of plants and trees. But it's the old Japanese maples and other special specimens the business salvages, often from yards where homeowners don't like the trees or they have become too big.

Ronsse considers what she does a rescue operation, since the alternative is usually cutting down the tree. She does it, she said, more for altruistic reasons than the cash. Japanese maples are a passion: She loves the layering, the coloring and the textures. They're living beings that should be treated accordingly, she said.

"It breaks my heart to think someone would kill a plant older than their grandmother," she said. "That makes no sense to me."

The salvaged trees are transported back to the nursery, where they're planted in the ground and cared for until the right buyer comes along. Sometimes she makes a profit reselling the trees. Many times she doesn't. There's always a risk that the tree, despite the best care, won't live.

People don't understand the expense and trouble and time involved in moving big, old trees, she said. She has to turn down a number of requests because the crew can't access the tree or the roots aren't in good shape. Trees can only be moved when they're dormant in the winter.

"Sometimes people attempt to move trees in full leaf, and that's like trying to operate on a human not under anesthesia."

The job requires skilled labor and special equipment. Trees can be deceptively heavy, sometimes several tons, because much of their weight is in the root ball. More fragile trees with extensive roots such as Japanese maples may need to be dug out with a shovel. And once the tree gets back to her nursery, workers may care for it for years before a buyer comes along.

Buyers usually do come. There is a small but steady demand for mature trees from people who are willing to pay a premium. It's usually older couples with some money who don't have 40 years to watch a tree mature in their gardens, she said.

The more desirable specimens can run more than $10,000. Sometimes people find out what mature trees can cost, and they expect to sell the trees in their yards to her nursery for big bucks. But Ronsse rarely pays homeowners. The expense of moving it outweighs the cost, she said.

Two other local companies that salvage trees, Big Trees in Snohomish and Privacy Trees outside Snohomish, may pay nothing, a few hundred dollars or give nursery credit in exchange for more valuable trees.

Privacy Trees carries some old specimen trees, such as a 14-foot wide Japanese maple that retails for $16,500, owner Michael Gillie said. The bread-and-butter of his business is a limited but popular selection of trees for privacy screening. But the old dairy farm turned tree farm also includes many specimen trees people have had him take off their properties.

The aptly named Big Trees in Snohomish specializes in trees that start at the height at which most nurseries stop. Owners Ross and Nancy Latham estimate 20 to 30 percent of their business involves salvaging trees and reselling them. They also will temporarily store trees for people, usually homeowners who are remodeling. More municipalities are moving toward requiring developers to replace or transplant trees, he said, and he expects this part of his business will continue to grow.



Reporter Debra Smith: 425-339-3197 or dsmith@heraldnet.com. Visit her blog at www.heraldnet.com.