Uprooting a tree to make room for children to play
Question
I am about to buy a house with a small garden and several fruit trees. The problem is that the fruit trees take up nearly all of the space. Am I allowed to prune them? Or uproot them and transplant them in someone else's garden?
Answer
Rabbi Yehuda Amichay; Additions by Rabbi Moshe Bloom
Fruit trees may not be uprooted to allow for the benefit of children.
The trees may be uprooted and transplanted elsewhere. It is best to commission a non-Jew to transplant the tree, together with its surrounding clod of soil.
Note by Rabbi Bloom:
In practice, most posekim allow for tree transplant by a Jew. This is because it is not prohibited to transplant trees, rather to cut down and destroy the tree. Of course, we must ensure that the tree does not die during the process of transplanting it.