This summer I moved into a new house near Burnaby Heights. I inherited 3 fruit trees and have been waiting for the leaves to come off to get a good look at the branch structure for pruning or possible removal. They're currently under CoV's restrictions for removal, so that is still an option. One is an apple tree that in my opinion was pruned previously by someone who had no idea what they were doing. The leader was cut causing an explosion of branches lower down. Lots of clusters and crossing branches. The photo is not great, but I'm wondering if some careful pruning can bring it back. It produced fruit this year and the leaves and growth looked healthy.
I agree with Sundrop; you only need to watch out for excessive pruning, which will encourage many watersprouts. I would cut out only the worst crossing branches during the dormant season. Summer pruning will be better for training the tree to the desired shape.
Do you know what variety of apple this is? Even if you don't know, do you love the fruit? If I were faced with a choice between going to considerable trouble to rehabilitate an apple variety I may not even really enjoy and starting fresh with one I do, I would choose the latter. Short term pain - long term gain.
