I have a rather large (20 - 25 ft) ornamental weeping cherry tree in my backyard that after flowering produces tiny pea size cherries that are mostly tart and astringent(?).
I was wondering if it would be possible to graft a more edible variety onto this well established ornamental tree? Perhaps on the side that gets more sun. Removing the tree is not an option.
I am in particular looking for a very low maintenance semi-sour or semi-sweet variety that can be used in baking, with bonus points if its acceptable for fresh eating. I’ve been recommended the “romance” series which seems to fit the bill well… but I’m not sure how grafting a non-weeping variety on a weeping works.
I DID see this similar discussion here about a similar topic and will be looking into guerrillagrafters.org but wanted to get some advice specific to my situation.
By the way, where would one obtain romance series scion wood… eBay? Found this
I have a similar weeping cherry, too bad my wife likes it so much or it would have some “real” fruits on it 
I think it will graft fine, the only question is about graft compatibility. For standard cherries they look pretty close genetically based on the leaves, not sure about the Romance ones though.
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Interesting project. That is a beautiful tree. For this project you need a plan that spans decades with a clearly defined goal.
If you convert just half of it to a fruiting cherry cultivar I think that the tree would lose it’s visual appeal and be more difficult to maintain. For backyard fruit production you must net the tree so that birds don’t strip all the fruit. The taller the tree the more challenging netting, spraying and trimming becomes. You could graft just a few lower branches but they will probably be low vigor due to apical dominance, with insignificant quantity of fruit.
Bottom line, I would either do a full conversion knowing that there is a risk that the tree may die in the process, or I would leave it alone.
