Plantings and Beginnings

What happens when you take away a singer’s microphone? A barber’s scissors? An artist’s paintbrush? A basketball player’s ball? A year after the Shmita year we set out to learn what happened during the long break from planting – the beloved job of Ramat Hanadiv’s gardening staff.

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If we ignore any concerns about clichés, we can say that the Gardening Division of Ramat Hanadiv is similar to a charming garden bed: each of its gardeners is different, a rare species with unique, fascinating characteristics, and the Head Gardener, Shmulik, manages with charm that radiates sensitivity and encourages growth.

Over 100 Years of Experience

Let’s meet the gardening staff:
Ofer Hayoun, expert pruner, responsible for Ramat Hanadiv’s irrigation system and the Cascade Garden. Eight years at Ramat Hanadiv.
Rafi Zegal, Nursery Manager, wakes up excited each morning to nurture the garden’s future. 23 years at Ramat Hanadiv.

Eliyahu Kruger, responsible for the ~20 active gardening volunteers, making sure that each one of them receives a suitable task and feels at home, an initiator of keeping Shmita in the gardens, and an architect of “Tools at Rest”, the Shmita activity developed by Ramat Hanadiv this year. 15 years at Ramat Hanadiv.
David Brass, a seasoned gardener, spreads himself out over the entire garden area and is nicknamed “the garden barber” because he gives the plants “special haircuts”. 29 years at Ramat Hanadiv.
Haim Eseres, responsible for the Fragrance Garden and the office compound. Came to the gardens immediately after making Aliyah, and found that gardening was his calling. 27 years at Ramat Hanadiv.
Stav Israel, the youngest gardener, a landscape architect who defines gardening as natural healing. Three years at Ramat Hanadiv.
Shmulik Cohen, the Head Gardener, performed every task required of him from the beginning – building footpaths, adapting irrigation systems, running functions and more. Twenty five years ago he became the manager of the gardens and the beloved manager of the gardening staff. 32 years at Ramat Hanadiv.
Lior Hershkovitz, Curator of the Gardens. Maintains all of the knowledge related to taking care of the gardens – treating diseases and pests, irrigation, plant purchases and mapping the gardens. Seven years at Ramat Hanadiv.

The Shmita year changed the routine and thus we were able to renovate and upgrade the nursery. I think that this kind of break is necessary for the gardeners; it enables rest and renewal once every seven years’.

This year marked the second time since Ramat Hanadiv was established that Shmita was observed in the gardens. In the past we relied on the “heter mechira” – a halakhic solution that allowed us to continue the gardening routine, but the gardener Eliyahu, and Hugo, the CEO of Ramat Hanadiv, believed that the Shmita is a kind of natural continuation of the break in routine forced on us by the COVID-19 pandemic, and that maybe the land also deserves some kind of rest. Thus, for the second time in the history of Ramat Hanadiv – shmita was observed.

‘I miss the colour of the garden’, says David, ‘That feeling when people enter the garden and say: “Wow! How beautiful.”’

‘I found myself saying: “Maybe next year we’ll plant this plant, or that one”, and new ideas started to come. For a whole year we would say “After the Shmita we’ll be able to do it”. It generates a lot of motivation for renewal’.

‘The Shmita year allowed us to renew the nursery’, Rafi shares. ‘Usually, the work in the nursery is very intensive. The Shmita year changed the routine and thus we were able to renovate and upgrade the nursery. I think that this kind of break is necessary for the gardeners; it enables rest and renewal once every seven years’.

This year brought a yearning to work the land. At Ramat Hanadiv, more than 40,000 seasonal plants are planted each year. I am very curious to see whether the land will respond differently to planting next year after a year of rest.

planting new rose bushes on a detached substrate

Not All Is Rosy in the Rose Garden

One of the questions that characterised the Shmita was what to do when plants are damaged. The effects of the Shmita were very noticeable in the Rose Garden. While during other years the garden is particularly colourful and impressive, some of the roses got sick or withered and this sight pained the gardening staff. This fact led them, together with Eliyahu, who is responsible for the Rose Garden, to think of a creative solution and plant new rose bushes on a detached substrate. Since then, they have been waiting impatiently to plant them in the garden and bring back its colour and vitality.

The Fragrance Garden was also hard-hit when the Melissa or Artemisia (tree wormwood) were damaged. Each of these moments brought a feeling of helplessness, but also the hope to return to planting and a great appreciation for a thriving, renewed routine.

‘This year brought a yearning to work the land,’ Shmulik reinforces. ‘At Ramat Hanadiv, more than 40,000 seasonal plants are planted each year. I am very curious to see whether the land will respond differently to planting next year after a year of rest. We don’t have research on this topic, but I am sure that we, the gardeners, will witness particularly long or vigorous seasonal flowering’.

The tasks focused on maintenance, aesthetic pruning, pest control and more

‘The Shmita is special’, adds Lior, the Curator of the Gardens. ‘The garden drops to a “slower gear”, less stress, more time for introspection. There was no need to plant all the seasonal plants – a task that brings with it additional tasks, such as sowing, filling pots, transplanting, pruning, turning the soil, checking irrigation systems and digging. It’s true that the gardeners didn’t work less hard, but the tasks focused on maintenance, aesthetic pruning, pest control and more. The Shmita was also an opportunity for renewed learning, studying halakhic rules, investigating our motives for action. I believe that the Shmita doesn’t have a real effect on the garden, but I am sure that it’s good for the land to get some rest. I am convinced that the plants and soil also want to rest, to do what they do without any intervention’.

‘Right now the gardeners are working hard planting plants on sustainable, detached substrates.

Containers, empty oil packages, cartons and various boxes – all of these found their destiny being reused as temporary plant pots. The planting will be done gradually, and although each gardener is responsible for a different area, it will be done in teams, by all the gardeners together’, sums up Shmulik.

‘As hard as it is to work the land sometimes, it created a yearning and we are already waiting to start planting again. It’s true that the work is physical and it’s not easy, but the satisfaction gives us strength’, says David with shining eyes.

‘When the plants are injured or tired it makes us said’, says Ofer, ‘and when they flourish it also has a direct impact on us. We are really fortunate that most of the time everything flourishes here’.

‘We’re lucky that we now have six consecutive years to work the land’, they all agree with a smile.