[mankyd]

> The metaphor we use for optimization is “low hanging fruit” which no orchard owner would ever do.

This is just over-extending the metaphor.

The term has existed long before software was a thing, and refers simply to grabbing something that's easy. That's it.

The same goes for tree-shaking. The author does the same thing - over-extends the metaphor. Tree shaking simply means giving everything a jiggle and seeing what comes loose. It's easy to understand and shouldn't be read into any more than that.