Guide: Caring for Ornamental Gardens and Potted Plants During the Shemitah Year

When we behold a breathtaking landscape in the form of an ornamental garden or a beautiful flower, we're filled with a pleasant feeling. That's why we cultivate our yards with beautiful plants, our balconies and windows with potted plants and planters, and our rooftops with diverse vegetation. So that we don't lose years of gardening effort invested in beautiful, enjoyable, and healthy plants during the Shemitah year, but also don't transgress what the Torah says: "It shall be a year of rest for the land" and "The land shall observe a Sabbath to Hashem" - we will detail as best we can how to care for ornamental gardens and potted plants during the Shemitah year.

Plants that don't get enough - rainwater, and if not watered would suffer damage to the plants or fruits, may be watered as needed when they require irrigation, and not just the minimum amount necessary for their survival. Therefore, in case of doubt or lack of experience, consult with an observant, God-fearing expert.

It is permitted to wash a balcony floor - even if the water flows down to the garden if this is not your intention, especially if there are cleaning materials in the water. It is also permitted to use an air conditioner during the Shemitah year, even when the condensation pipe drips into the garden, and it is permitted to hang wet laundry to dry above the garden, even though water drips into the garden.

It is permitted to weed - to prevent fires or to beautify the garden, but if there are other plants in the garden that might benefit from the weeding, it is forbidden to weed them. Even if this is not your intention, you can cover them with opaque plastic sheeting to choke them, and it is also permitted to spray the garden with germination preventatives to prevent the sprouting of weeds and wild plants that harm the garden.

Mowing the lawn - is permitted when the purpose is to maintain the beauty of the lawn, or if without mowing the lawn would suffer irreparable damage. However, some authorities forbid mowing the lawn during the Shemitah year even if the intention is only to maintain its appearance (everyone should consult their rabbi on this matter)

 It is permitted to pick flowers or branches – from fragrant bushes to smell them, but it is forbidden to pick them in order to strengthen the bush or encourage new growth. Therefore, there is an accepted way of picking where one should cut only the top third or bottom third of the branch.  

And it is forbidden to prune roses or rosebushes - it is also forbidden to remove wilted flowers from them because it causes new flowers to grow.

Ornamental gardens that are the responsibility of the municipality or local authority - it is forbidden to work in them during the seventh year performing prohibited labors. Therefore, city residents living in the area should notify and make known to the local authority that the money they pay as part of their property taxes is not for the treatment of ornamental gardens, but only for other permissible expenses, and for permissible work done in gardens such as watering and the like.

It is permitted to open the shutters and windows of the apartment - during the Shemitah year in order to ventilate it, even though there are potted plants in the apartment and the sun and air help them grow stronger, since your entire intention is only to ventilate the apartment. However, it is forbidden to take a potted plant (even one without a hole in its bottom) from the house to the balcony so that it receives sunlight, but if you're not taking it out for this purpose but only to organize the house, it is permitted.

A hedge may not be trimmed - even if your intention is only to improve the appearance of the hedge, and you don't intend to benefit the bush or grow additional branches. But if the branches interfere with passage, it is permitted to cut them, if you don't intend to benefit the plant. This applies when done by an ordinary person, but if done by a professional gardener, there needs to be a change in the trimming method.  

Cleaning the garden - If you regularly clean a garden of waste materials, papers, dry leaves and so on, it is preferable to sweep them with a broom, and it is preferable that someone who is not a professional gardener does this work.

Cutting down trees - There is a permissible way to cut down trees without specific limitations, which is when the tree cutting is done for a specific purpose such as preparing a playground or the like (and not tree cutting that improves the tree).