Laws governing birkat ha'ilanot

Rosh Chodesh Nissan is the first day we can say birkat ha'ilanot, the blessing on blossoming fruit trees, praising Hashem for creating a beautiful world with beautiful trees to benefit humankind.

The blessing is as follows:

בָּרוּךְ אַתָּה ה' אֱלֹקֵינוּ מֶלֶךְ הָעוֹלָם, שֶׁלֹּא חִסֵּר בָּעוֹלָמוֹ כְּלוּם,  וּבָרָא בּוֹ בְּרִיּוֹת טוֹבוֹת וְאִילָנוֹת טוֹבוֹת לֵהָנוֹת בָּהֶן בְּנֵי אָדָם.

According to many posekim, we should not praise Hashem for trees growing in a forbidden fashion.

Today most trees are grafted, many in a prohibited fashion (dissimilar species). For this reason, we should make an effort to say the blessing on trees that were definitely grafted in a permitted fashion (ex: bought from a supervised nursery).

There are many trees that are conventionally grafted in permitted ways: fruit trees from the seven species, avocado, annona, persimmon, guava, carob, quince, sabra (prickly pear), kiwi, feijoa, and apple.

If necessary, it is possible to say the blessing on trees that are only sometimes grafted in a prohibited fashion: orange, clementine, lemon, peach, and almond.

Bedi'avad, if someone said the blessing on a tree grafted in a forbidden fashion, they should not say the blessing again on other trees since some posekim permit this.

Some avoid saying birkat ha'ilanot on orlah trees (since we still can't benefit from the fruit).

Check out our clip on birkat ha'ilanot.

See a compilation of related laws and customs (Hebrew), here