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Limbing or Limbing - which is it?

 
gardener
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When I saw the Limb 4 Trees BB, I was excited to go and limb four trees.  About halfway through, I realized that limbing refers to two different activities:
1) removing limbs from live trees (that you are not cutting down) for forest health and fire hazard reduction.
2) removing limbs from felled (is that the right word?) trees.

Since I needed to limb some trees for forest health and I didn't read the BB before heading to the forest - well, you know, it is often recommended that you read directions.
Anyway, I got several trees limbed (1) and will be able to remove a 7" tree that is about 5' from a 24" tree, hopefully, without it getting stuck in the big tree.  

Curious if anyone else thinks first of forest health limbing.
Limbing.JPG
to limb or not to limb? - is that even a question? :)
to limb or not to limb? - is that even a question? :)
 
pollinator
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I generally hear 'removing limbs from a live tree', for tree health, safety, asthetics, etc, referred to as pruning... while limbing is removing limbs from a downed tree..
 
steward
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For purposes of the BB, it's removing the branches from felled trees.
 
gardener
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I think it's Limbing.   😂
 
pollinator
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We in wildfire country commonly refer to "limbing" (or "limb up a tree") as removing growth in the lower part of the trees to protect against the spread of wildfires/decrease likelihood of crown fires.
I use "limbing" to differentiate my meaning from "pruning," which I would describe as trimming branches for the health of the tree and/or for training it to grow in a certain way.

I think your regional location could determine the context for this one, which may make it ambiguous.
 
pollinator
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Here in our patch of forest we refer to limbing as taking the branches off a felled tree. We don't use normal terms for clearing lower limbs on live trees for forest health. "Schicking" somehow became our personal term for cleaning up the lower branches and we both know exactly what it means. I've hear others refer to it as "raising the skirts."
 
I agree. Here's the link: http://stoves2.com
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