SIR - At the height of the “ash die-back” problem that hit Britain last year I was advised to cut down the ash trees in my garden because they were all showing the classic signs of the disease.

One very large old tree and four young trees, the loss of which would have spoilt the look of my garden I decided to see if nature itself would either kill or heal them.

To my surprise they have all grown this year and without exception, all are stronger, greener and generally looking far healthier than ever.

So instead of cutting down thousands of trees and forcing nurseries to throw away thousands of young saplings would it not have been better to keep and eye on the situation and give Mother Nature a chance, after all it wasn’t a case of Dutch Elm Disease?

It isn’t always best to heed the advice of “experts”, sometimes it’s better to ignore them because how can somebody claim to be an expert in a disease that had never manifested itself before.

M H Carter, Lastingham Green, Buttershaw