eBay. I've seen tons of plants for sale there. You can specify that it's for pick-up only, since that's rather large to put in the mail--or try Craigslist for the Portland area.

I sold two on Craigslist. I got half of what I was asking... Might have gotten more, but didn't want to bother too much with it. I had zero success getting any firms or nurseries interested, but lots of response on CL.

6'x 8' is a pretty good size for a weeping laceleaf maple and requires a bit of skill and a whole lot of elbow grease to move, as the rootball will be big and heavy. I'm suprised a dealer in large or specimen trees is not interested as they can resell for a pretty darn good price if in good shape and well dug. Most retail nurseries or GC's will buy only from certified growers (too many disease and pest concerns and no warranty from private parties) so your best bet is to advertise locally for another private party - craigslist or ebay.

I think she would be thrilled with $100 but it has been hacked. She lopped it off every year so it didn't drag on the lawn. It does have stubs and twigs. I didn't think of it until you mentioned it.

Maybe that is why Big Trees didn't want it because she did send them digital photos.

why dont you suggest she give it to a nearby gardener
who will give it a good home?

especially if it's dinged-up

The only gardener on our street is me and I have no room for it.

What was happening 20 years ago that isn't happening now? The digging, public display and selling of big laceleaf maples on a regular basis seems like a recent phenomenon to me. Were there even that many big tree specialist sales yards around back then? Lately I've encountered a new whopper on view somewhere here just about every year, on a big tree lot or at the Seattle garden show. Must be a wave of re-development of old properties here, and/or a generation that doesn't care about wonderful old laceleaf maples moving onto them.

Someone knocked on a friend's door over ten years ago and offered him $1500 each for two he had flanking his driveway. Paid cash.

Im in Portland & have a huge & beautiful Japanese maple. I haven't had a chance to measure it, but can. Would any of you have any suggestions on who to call to possibly sell it? Any names? Thank you so much for your time!

What's "huge"? There is a limited market for reselling large, established mature trees removed from a home landscape because of the cost involved in digging, wrapping and transporting them. It's an expensive process that should only be undertaken by professionals and the result is an expensive tree to purchase just to recoup the costs involved, forget about reimbursing the homeowner. And then there are all the issues with attempting to re-establish a mature tree in a new location, which are considerable.

Sometimes putting out feelers to local nurseries that work closely with landscapers can put you in touch with those who are looking for specimen plants for a specific, big ticket design project.

Thank you so much for getting back to my question so quickly. I would definitely take into account the digging of the tree. The previous owners put it in such an awkward place right near the driveway. We are needing to expand and the tree keeps growing. I measured the tree, it is approximately 38+' wide X 8+' tall. The trunk meaures at 18". Maybe its not even "huge"?

These maples are still hot items: One was recently moved away from this neighborhood (new sliver house going into side lot), reputedly for $thousand+.

@ larry_gene. Do you know by whom? Do you think CraigsList is a good place to post an add? I dont even know what to price it at?! It's truly a beautiful tree, to bad it was placed in such an awful place