You can do this, and I'll be topworking some of my apple this year with scions collected from different parts of the tree. I want more of the tree to be some of the other varieties.

Be aware that grafting lower on the tree is less reliable, and older trees can be a little recalcitrant. So aim to do this higher up, on newer growth, if possible.

You could also cut the guilty branches back hard, encouraging new side growth, and then train that grow while it is young and supple. Probably faster, in the long run. But, not as much fun as grafting!

To practice grafting find some nice young watersprouts and cut them off. Take them apart and put them back together with whip or whip and tongue grafts, or cleft them into some spare limb somewhere.

Have fun, and good luck.

Thanks for that!

But please bear with me a bit longer. I am not a native English speaker, so...

What I understand by clef grafting is this technique - https://courses.cit.cornell.edu/hort494/Cleft/cleft2Scion.JPG
From what I have seen in various youtube videos or over the web, this technique requires the rootstock not to be too high. I have seen it done in a production orchard even at a few inches above the ground, on quite old and large trunks. I thought the whole point was to keep some nursery branches as a place for the sap to run through. So.. I dunno, Tree is about 10 years of age from seed, and I am going to leave a nursery limb alive.

Whip / wihip and tongue requires similar size branches, which defeats my purpose of cutting down the mostly ill shaped tree.

Oh, and one more. What can I use instead of grafting wax ? Wouln't want to spend money on that thing since Iam not going to use it too soon again. I hear about acrylic silicone as a replacement or even chewed bubble gum :)

Hi Kelogs.

Not to worry about your language abilities. You do quite well.

Your understanding of cleft grafting is accurate- it is often done on trunks or branches that are almost just stumps. I had imagined a tree more like my apple: quite a few well-established branches that I intend to keep, and a few that I would like to shift over. In my particular case I will have better luck changing over the branches that are higher up in the tree because they will be less affected by hormones which the tips of branches secrete and which drain down the tree to inhibit competition. Since you will remove those higher branches they need not concern you. I did not appreciate how much of the tree you intended to remove.

One approach that has worked for me is to work over two or three branches on a fairly young tree and work my way up the tree over a period of a few years to continue converting branches, but not the main trunk, to a variety of fruit. I keep most of the tree unchanged in any given year but change some part of it every year. If I have a variety down below that's appealing I cut scions from it and graft them onto the higher scaffolds. I obviously can't keep that up forever, but it is quite workable now. I simply keep the lower scaffolds if I like their fruit.

Hope I didn't make this too confusing.

The tree may be able to be staked up to more upright position using vinyl electric tape and a strong straight stake. If the wood is too thick and stiff this can sometimes be accomplished by cutting a hinge of several saw cuts one third into the trunk where you want wood to bend. You cut on the side the wood is bending to or it will break when you attempt to bend it.

Otherwise you'd probably be better off by forcing a new branch just below where the tree bends by scoring the bark deeply just above a dormant bud (slight bump in the bark). Scoring is done by using a sharp pruning saw and cutting through the bark and cambium (green wood)- say a centimeter deep. You would probably go about a third way around the trunk above the dormant bud at first growth in spring.

When you get the new branch growing you can gradually cut away the rest of the tree but use it temporarily for fruit. this time use a stake to force it to grow straight.

Awesome, thanks both, it is all clear. I think I am going to follow harvestman's approach - easier for the noob who is probably never going to graft ever again.