As an arborist for over 25 years, I would not disagree with your editorial (18 July) that trees are literally part of the air we breathe. What I object to is the rise of the celebrity tree. All trees are equally important. In terms of the natural environment, the Sycamore Gap was just a tree, no more no less. The men who cut it down arguably deserve to be punished, but if they had been given community sentences working in woods, for example, they may have benefited from some shinrin-yoku and emerged as more enlightened souls.
Paul Goetzee
Liverpool
No mention of Spike Milligan’s cure for sea sickness in your praise of trees. It always works.
Robert Glen
Port Seton, East Lothian
My Belgian mother liked cricket so much that she became the official scorer for my father’s club (Letters, 18 July). She claimed that she took up scoring to avoid the fate of cricket wives – making the tea. But she enjoyed a day out at Edgbaston and never missed Test Match Special on BBC Radio.
David Campion
Timperley, Greater Manchester
Some advice for Paul Comaish for his cunning plan to get around the hosepipe ban (Letters, 18 July) – I was advised by a gardener to use the product fresh and dilute it 10:1 with water for best results.
David Felton
Crewe, Cheshire
I always knew no good would come from going to a Coldplay concert (Tech CEO caught with company’s HR head…, 19 July).
Michael Leigh
Nottingham
