In the past month, Willow Glen residents have reported numerous garden-related incidents that range from strangers clipping roses from their rosebushes to potted plants missing from their porches.

One resident, David Sarasua, said his clivia plants, which are valued at $100 each, were taken from his yard.

"They don't come with shovels," he said. "They grab the plant and yank on it."

He adds that because landscape stealing appears to be an ongoing problem, he's not sure anything can be done to prevent it.

"It's frustrating that it happens once in a while," Sarasua said. "You take it as a loss."

Almaden Valley Nursery owner Eric Wilder said he hasn't heard about many plant thefts, but says when landscaping is torn from the ground, it's often the work of another homeowner and the landscaping can't be recovered.

"It's a helpless feeling," Wilder said. He added that stolen potted plants or other moveable landscaping can often be found at flea markets.

"Most of the time it ends up on the black market," he said.

And Japanese maples, which were disappearing in Palo Alto some time ago, are considered prized shrubs by thieves, valued at $400 for a 25-gallon pot, Wilder said.

While no one's reported missing Japanese maples in Willow Glen, Sarasua said that putting a screw through the roots of an expensive tree should deter most tree-nabbers.

In Willow Glen, Manthey's Nursery manager Gene Cook said he hasn't heard about stolen landscaping except for the rash of thefts in Palo Alto and Seagal palm trees in Southern California.

Cook said he's heard of homeowners putting chains around valuable trees or running rebarb through the root system, but the nursery he works at doesn't carry those products.

For Sarasua the solution is to chain trees down or not to put expensive plants in view of the street.

But even backyards are sometimes susceptible, said San Jose Central Wholesale Nursery employee Carly Holmes.

"Even from backyards, people steal oranges," she said. "There's not a lot you can do."

Holmes said homeowners with pricey plants may want to consider having their landscaping insured on their homeowner's policy.

San Jose Police Department spokeswoman and officer Gina Tepoorten said she's not aware of any reports regarding stolen landscaping. But she recommended keeping front yards and driveways well lit. And if a suspicious person or activity is seen, she said to call 911, because they may be "casing" the neighborhood.

Some local residents have advised their neighbors to install motion-detector sprinkler systems, which might deter the weak-hearted thief, but Sarasua thinks the big-ticket snatches are calculated burglaries. And he added that those who pick flowers in others' yards are not unlike the folks who eat their way through the supermarket.

"You're taking something that's not yours," he said.