Olive tree advice please!

Hello everyone.
I'm hoping for a bit of advice on managing and possibly moving an olive tree.
I've just moved house and the olive was a nice surprise in our new garden!
The tree is currently growing inconveniently in the middle of our lawn. I would guess its fairly old, its sort of the same size as the biggest ones sold in garden centres.
Ideally I would like to move it, though of course not if its going to hurt it. So is there a better time to do this and how much root can it lose and still be ok?
Also its trunk isn't really in proportion with all the foliage. It has a stake to support it but has still been almost blown over on a couple of windy days. So do I need to prune it? And is it too late to do it now?
Anyway, thanks very much for any help you can give me,
Sallyx

 

Hi L&L. suppose someboty had better answer but I'm afraid I can't help much. And I doubt if many people can. Olives are really a thorn in the side. Accidental Gardener has been trying to give one away (to be collected) for about 9 months. She is in the home counties (or Dorset depending). Mine is still in it's pot at a foot high or so, so i still love it but they are difficult. I find that most plants are more resilient than the experts say. So (and I am NOT an expert,) I would move it when dormant, i.e. in winter, early spring. I would take as big a root ball as I can. I wouldn't prune until it's been moved for 6 months. And by the way this is an educated guess - no more.

 

Hello LAL aka Sally and welcome to GC.

I can tell you for certain that it is VERY easy to move an olive tree, no matter what age ... it is normality here even for ones hundreds of years old. Believe it or not, their roots can be cut into a short circumference from the trunk, uplifted and replanted ... it doesn't seem to affect them at all.

It's trunk size has nothing to do with it's foliage and yes, you can prune them. We have one which doesn't belong to us but to the orchard next door that encroaches on our property and kitchen wall and is quite a niightmare and so yearly we really hack it back away from us and it comes back like a vengeance! I would think it would be quite safe for you to uproot, trim and replant now there. Anyway, you can always blame me if all fails. :rolleyes:

Go for it and good luck.

Enjoy the forum.

PS I am in Algarve but they are uprooting olive trees in the Alentejo region above us and it gets VERY, VERY COLD there in the winter so I'm not just talking about a hot spot for them.

 

Yeah my guess is that it would move OK.
The fact that the stem is out of proportion to the top growth suggests that it might have been planted fairly recently, perhaps bought as a standard.
It could also explain why it gets blown over.
If you do move it, bear in mind it will need some watering for this summer.
Good luck on what you decide but do it fast if your going to do it now, so it has all the summer to re-establish.

 

Hello Everyone.
Thank-you very much for all your advice. I'm definitely less scared I'll kill it now! It does need to be moved, so guess it's a risk it'll have to take.
I appreciate your help.
X