My weeping willow is pollarded every five years and this sort of pruning can keep trees alive and healthy for many times their average natural lifespan. I have two Bramley apple trees which were planted and bearing fruit before our house was built in 1927, so where did he get his 20-year lifespan from? Maybe newspaper letter writers should have a barcode which informs editors when their ability to write sensible letters is coming to an end? John Cossham(Treemendous York committee member for over a dozen years)Recommended reads:'Give trees a barcode’: York resident's idea after dramatic Walmgate incidentWhy Johnny Depp is returning to North Yorkshire this weekendYork cafe in 700-year-old building closes as heatwave makes kitchen ‘dangerously hot’Beware eclipse! If our politicians came out of Parliament more often they would see we are surrounded by it on all sides.