By Togram
Surrey, United Kingdom
We have transplanted a small olive tree from another property. It looks pretty unhappy and has started losing leaves .
- 31 May, 2014
Answers
I'm not sure how old the tree was or is. It's not old I'm sure . It's about 6 feet tall but has a trunk of only about 50 - 75mms. It was near a house - it was in the ground , not in a pot, dug up in mid-march We,re in south west London - in the same locale as the tree was.
The position we've planted it in is much more exposed I would think - in the middle of a lawn in full sun.
Many thanks,
With regard,
Togram,
4 Jun, 2014
It doesn't sound as if you bought the plant in the first place, which is why you probably don't know how old it is. To be that height, though, it would have to have been 4 or 5 years old, maybe more, and it would have had a fairly large root system. Unless you took it out with a very large rootball and didn't break any roots (virtually impossible), then its not surprising its suffering - March is also the worst time to dig up and move larger trees and shrubs, much better done in the autumn.
What you can do now is nothing much except give it a couple of gallons of water every other day, watered on round the base, for some weeks, and every day during hotter dry spells, up till autumn, and it may recover.
4 Jun, 2014
Many thanks, yes, it was given to us - passed on from someone we didn't know. To add insult to injury we've been away and it's now probably very thirsty indeed. I did water it extensively initially and wondered if this was the problem. However, I shall now follow your instructions and hope for the best.
Sincerely Margot
16 Jun, 2014
More info required - how old was it when you moved it, and was it in the ground at the time, and what time of year did you dig it up and then replant? What part of the country are you in? Is the position where you've placed it now more exposed than where it was previously?
31 May, 2014