Planting during the Nine Days
Is it permitted to plant during the Nine Days?
No special decorative gardening or landscaping should be performed during the Nine Days. This includes planting ornamental trees or beds of flowers, fragrant plants, and herbs.
Planting ornamental trees or trees for shade
The Mishnah Berurah and most of Acharonim forbid planting such trees during the Nine Days. Gardeners who depend on such activities for their livelihood, and cannot postpone planting until after 9 Av, should consult with a reliable halachic authority.
Permissible gardening activities
Private individuals should avoid planting fruit trees, vegetables, and grass. Also avoid mowing the lawn during this time (Rabbi Yaakov Ariel, Ohalei Halachah).
Farmers, who depend on these activities for their livelihood, may do so if they already ordered the saplings or seedlings.
Other gardening activities are permitted, including setting up irrigation systems, fertilization, and pruning. Gardeners should focus on these activities during the Nine Days.
Sources
The Gemara in Yevamot (43b) writes: "From rosh chodesh [Av] until the fast [9 Av], people minimize their business dealings, construction, and planting."
In the Babylonian Talmud, it is not clear whether all construction and planting are prohibited, but the Jerusalem Talmud clarifies (Ta'anit 4:6): "Rabbi Yehoshua ben Levi said, 'This applies to joyous construction, but if his wall is collapsing, he may demolish and rebuild it.'"
Regarding the concept of 'joyous construction,' we rely on the Gemara in Ta'anit 14b: "What is joyous construction? Building a wedding house for his son. What is joyous planting? Planting a king's orchard."
:There are three approaches among the commentators to understanding these examples
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Only construction and planting intended for a joyous event are prohibited (first explanation in Rashi and Rosh, ibid., §21).
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Any construction and planting intended for a necessary purpose are permitted, while those intended for convenience, such as for shade or expanding the house, are prohibited (second explanation in Rashi, Ran, and Meiri, ibid.).
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The prohibited construction and planting are those that "broaden the mind and gladden the heart," meaning: decorating the building or planting myrtles and spices that emit a pleasant fragrance (Rambam, Gloss on the Mishnah, Ta'anit 1:7)).
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There is an additional approach noted by some posekim: since the Babylonian Talmud simply mentioned that it is forbidden to "build and plant," without distinguishing between joyous planting and non-joyous planting, thus all planting and building are prohibited (Tur, OC §551, Bach based on Rif, Rambam, and Rosh).
Shulchan Aruch rules (OC §551:2):
From rosh chodesh until the fast [ 9 Av], one minimizes business dealings and joyous construction, such as building a wedding house for his son or decorative and ornamental building, and joyous planting, such as a king's orchard planted for shade or myrtles and other fragrant plants.
From a close reading of the passage above, it seems that Shulchan Aruch would only prohibit joyous construction and planting, following the first and third approach, namely planting intended for a joyous event or that one that gladdens the heart. This is also implied by his continuation: "And if his wall is inclined to fall, even if it is for joy, it is permissible to build it," meaning he understands the words of the Jerusalem Talmud permitting the repair of the wall to extend to buildings intended specifically for joy; otherwise, it would not have been prohibited at all. Had Shulchan Aruch followed the second approach, namely, that all construction for convenience is allowed, he could have stated that repairing the wall is allowed because convenience repairs are allowed in general.
On the other hand, some understood that Rambam's opinion (the third approach) is similar to the second approach, and the planting of myrtles and decorating the building are examples of things that are not necessary but intended for convenience (Bach). According to this opinion, Shulchan Aruch, who quotes the Rambam's words, ruled similarly. The Mishnah Berurah, too, (§551:12) ruled: "Any construction not necessary for himself or his residence but performed only for general convenience is prohibited."
In practice, according to the plain understanding of Shulchan Aruch, it is permissible to plant and sow in the garden trees, plants, and grass intended for use, and the like. However, it is forbidden to plant a unique decorative garden or special orchard that gives pleasure. According to the Mishnah Berurah and other commentators, it is permissible to plant only items that have a necessary use, such as planting an orchard for commercial purposes.
Exceptional Cases:
There are two exceptional cases mentioned by the posekim:
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Monetary Loss – Shulchan Aruch permits repairing a wall during the Nine Days, even when it is a wall of a joyous type of building. Taz explains that this is due to the fear of monetary loss, even though there is no danger of the wall collapsing. The Mishnah Berurah (551:13) ruled similarly, explaining that "it is not performed for joy, but to prevent loss."
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For a Mitzvah or Necessity – Meiri (Ta'anit 14b) wrote: "The Geonim of Spain wrote that even those things that are not permitted are only prohibited when there is no aspect of a mitzvah involved. However, if one did not have a wedding house and wants to marry, it is permissible to build him a wedding house."
From Meiri's words, it seems that the prohibition of planting during the Nine Days is not waived only for an actual mitzvah, but even for something mitzvah-related. This is also implied by the Rema's wording: "And for a mitzvah, everything is permitted."
It appears that the reason for these two allowances is the prohibition of planting during the Nine Days, certainly according to the opinions that everything intended for convenience is prohibited, was established because there is no reason to engage in activities intended for expansion and convenience during this period. It is far more appropriate to focus on mourning for the destruction of the Temple (as also implied by the posekim who equate the prohibition of engaging in business to actions intended for convenience), and therefore only essential matters were permitted. When it comes to mitzvah performance, however, it is not problematic that one is hastening to fulfill a mitzvah and dealing with it specifically during these days. Therefore, planting and mitzvah-related construction is allowed, especially when delaying might cause monetary loss.
In most cases, it is possible to put off planting until after the Nine Days, or alternatively, prepare in advance and avoid planting work during these days. In general, alternative gardening work should be planned for this time.
In instances where putting off planting would cause significant monetary loss. An example of this is if saplings or plants were ordered and they arrived during or right before the Nine Days. In this case, waiting several days to plant would cause some of the plants to be ruined. For farmers and gardeners, it would be permissible to plant in this case. Private individuals should consult with a competent halachic authority.
Note by Rabbi Yehuda Amichay:
I have seen Rabbi Dvir's analysis, which is well written and thorough. However, permitting "convenience planting" during the Nine Days to avoid incurring a loss, needs further investigation in practice: It is very puzzling to define that there is a loss or mitzvah- need in the six days at the beginning of Av when it was possible to plant in advance or following 9 Av. This seems more like intentionally timing the work for this period.
It is clear that this case cannot be defined as a loss because the loss mentioned in the Jerusalem Talmud, and the halachah in practice, involves the repairs to an existing wall. Defining the case at hand as a loss is inappropriate because there is no loss of an existing object. Additionally, a mitzvah need is something the likes of a wedding house. Planting trees for shade or flowers, however, does not constitute fulfilling the mitzvah of settling the Land of Israel. As explained in the Gemara, settling the Land of Israel through planting is fulfilled by planting the Seven Species only. Therefore, it is difficult to consider ornamental planting as a loss or a mitzvah-need. It seems that gardeners can do preparatory work for planting and sowing during the Nine Days but not actual planting and sowing. If a gardener was contracted before the Nine Days and did not notice that he could not complete the work before the Nine Days, and consequently he would lose money, he may subcontract a non-Jew to plant on his behalf.
Furthermore, regarding the prohibition of convenience work during the Nine Days (not just planting a "king's garden"). This rule was mentioned by Beit Yosef in the name of Ran; by Bach, Magen Avraham 551:7, Eliyah Raba 3, Chayei Adam 133:14, Mishnah Berurah 551:12. See also Kaf HaChaim 551:24, who wrote that this is also the opinion of Rambam and Shulchan Aruch, not as it is written by Machatzit HaShekel.
Therefore, it seems that one should be stringent regarding convenience planting and avoid planting ornamental trees and flowers. One should not rely on the lenient opinions that forbid planting "king's gardens" only.
In practice, the accepted custom has been that all convenience planting was customarily prohibited by Israel, especially since Ashkenazi and Sephardi sages agreed and established this. It is clear that garden arrangement and leveling are not considered convenience since these are regular garden activities.
