Moving an olive tree

[Coronilla]

I planted an olive tree in March last year. It's not thriving (it's lost quite a lot of leaves) and I'm thinking about moving it to a sunnier position.

Obviously it would prefer more sun (and I'm quite cross with myself for planting it where I did), but I'm worried that transplanting it could finish it off. It's not insubstantial - about 8 foot tall, trunk as thick as my lower arm. Does anyone have any advice?

I grow mine in planters. They seem to like the roots restricted and I can control the free draining so they don’t get waterlogged.

Mine was potted for 10 years, I had to plant in the garden but it's near trees so water is drained there by huge trees - it's definitely happier - planted June 2019

Sorry, I should have been clearer. It's currently planted in the ground (not in a pot), and I'm considering digging it up and moving it to another spot in the ground. I'm not sure how risky it is to uproot a tree though?

It's been in the ground just over a year so perhaps it hasn't fully bedded in and would be OK to move?

Dig a trench round it then leave it for a couple of weeks to recover from that , then dig it up and move it. Be conscientious in watering it regularly when there’s a dry spell for the rest of the growing season. Make sure the new place has plenty of drainage as they don’t like to be water logged.

Thanks Perseverance, that's a great tip about digging a trench

I've moved my olive trees from pot to ground and into a pot again. They coped fine just be really careful to water generously without waterlogging them

I moved a 2 year old willow tree last week. Several higher up branches wilted immediately and dried up but many lower leaves still seem to be green and healthy.