Mi Yodeya is a question and answer site for those who base their lives on Jewish law and tradition and anyone interested in learning more. It only takes a minute to sign up.
Sign up to join this community
I previously asked about Planting grass during shmita, and discovered that it is forbidden. But what about astroturf (synthetic grass)? Would there be any problem with installing that during the shmita year?
Some potential problems i can think of:
Do any poskim address this?
Removing weeds with their roots, cutting weeds without removing their roots, removing stones to to prepare the land for planting and plowing are clearly forbidden. So practically it seems impossible to install synthetic grass during shmita on earth.
Putting synthetic grass on say cement or stone doesn't seem to imply any violation of shmita laws (no more than putting a carpet on a deck) but, as you mention in the question, could be an issue of mar'it ayin.
A very good source on the laws of shmita is R Yosef Tzvi Rimon's book. See p. 166 for the sources on forbidden labor.
