Any kind of plant care is prohibited on Shabbat. This includes planting, irrigation, spraying, fertilization, pruning, removing thorns, breaking branches, and clearing stones.

It is prohibited to water plants on Shabbat. Even washing one’s hands over the ground in such a way that the water will fall directly onto grass, vegetation, seeds, and the like, is prohibited on Shabbat. When washing hands does not directly irrigate the soil, but rather the water flows through a pipe or a drainage channel to another area where it waters the plants, it is permitted as long as one’s intention is not to water the vegetation.

It is permitted to activate an automatic irrigation system in advance so that it will operate on Shabbat (but see the section on “the appearance of transgression,” p. 454).

Picking fruit from a tree, or uprooting vegetables or grass from the ground, is prohibited on Shabbat. Collecting fruits that have fallen from a tree and are lying under it is also prohibited on Shabbat.

It is even prohibited to pass through one’s garden with the intention of seeing what requires fixing or what task needs to be done after Shabbat.

A flowerpot is classified as muktze and may not be moved on Shabbat from one place to another. If the pot fell and some soil spilled from it, one may not return the soil to the pot.

It is permitted to move a vase with flowers from one spot to another on Shabbat.

One may not put flowers in a vase of water on Shabbat. Likewise, one may not add water to a vase that has flowers in it.