Hi Winn
I would do Option B now and then wait until you have a number of 1 year old shoots that will emerge around the perimeter of each cut. Make cuts non horizontal so they will freely drain preventing center core rot due to rainwater intrusion. Paint over each cut and repaint as the center cor dries out and cracks to prevent rot.
Once you have good sized shoots to graft next year you can enjoy a good % take on most grafts.
My take rate on bark grafts, even when I follow Ken Coates’ methods have been disappointing. He remarks in some of his tutorial videos that most people are lucky to get 2 out of 6. I got only about 1 out of 5 and on several attempts zero. So I can see why the orchards would hire Ken as he seems to be the only one who can do them reliably. In his videos he does do a good job of describing how to select viable scionwood. Since it takes some time to collect these off your older tree, his advice will benefit you in scion selection. You can find his videos in one of my earlier posts here.
Take care
Dennis
1 Like