Gardening - Old Fruit Trees

QUESTION: I have a fruit tree growing in my yard that produces very little fruit, may I cut it down?

ANSWER: The Rambam (Hilchos Melachim 6:9) writes that this prohibition only applies to fruit bearing trees. A fruit tree that has grown old and can no longer produce enough fruit to justify the efforts and expenses of its harvest may be cut down. The Rambam writes that a date tree that produces less than a kav of fruit per year may be cut down. A kav is a volume measurement equal to 24 eggs. Since this tree produces so little fruit, it is no longer considered to be a fruit tree.

But as discussed in a previous Halacha, one should not remove the tree themselves because of the sakana (danger) in removing fruit trees. One should rather hire a nochri to remove the tree. Rav Avigdor Miller zt”l is quoted as saying that the reason why cutting down a fruit tree has such an extreme punishment is because the act of cutting down the tree shows a lack of reverence for the gift of fruit which sustains life. 

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The Gerald & Karin Feldhamer OU Kosher Halacha Yomis is dedicated to the memory of Rav Yisroel Belsky, zt"l, who served as halachic consultant for OU Kosher for more than 28 years; many of the responses in Halacha Yomis are based on the rulings of Rabbi Belsky. Subscribe to the Halacha Yomis daily email here.