Letters: Why restrict travel when data shows vaccines work against variants?

MONSIEUR – The house we bought six months ago had a plastic lawn (Letters, June 8). While appreciating the practical benefits, we learned that this is a disaster for wildlife and also cannot be recycled.

We have therefore removed ours and replaced it with a “tapestry lawn”. This is formed by creeping plants which knit together to form a mat. It only needs mowing twice a year, thrives on poor soil, is beneficial for wildlife both in the soil, and is very beautiful and interesting. The aromatics it contains give off an odor when you walk on them. The idea is not new: the Victorians had chamomile carpet tapestries.

While not ideal for every garden, they would surely enhance a few, while supporting the often besieged local flora and fauna.

Marie Sutherland
London SE10

SIR – We have a large and beautiful garden, but maintaining it during the growing season involves a lot of hard work and feels like a battle with nature. Therefore, I like to cut the grass as short as possible. The ideas of rewilding and returning to nature seem impractical to me, except on a small scale, and risk the garden looking overgrown and neglected.

Allan Bocci
Kempston Rural, Bedfordshire

SIR – Like Judith Woods (Features, June 3), I have a small garden in town and have a hard time growing grass. I dug everything up and now have a rose garden, three herbaceous borders and a patch of herbs, in a garden that seems three times the size.

John jones
London SW10

SIR – The maintenance of our two pocket lawns was a common responsibility. We invested in synthetic turf two years ago: although expensive, it was cheaper than a divorce.

Eve wilson
Hill Head, Hampshire

Desperate caregivers stranded by technology

SIR – When will this country realize what would happen if family caregivers cease to be nurses?

Across businesses and the public sector, technology is being used to replace interaction with humans. These systems and algorithms are designed to eliminate fraud and therefore only for use by the patient, client or client. They are everywhere. The surgical eConsult system is one example. Family caregivers despair of being blocked when they try to use these systems to contact their practices on behalf of their patients. Anyone who complains is fooled by lame data protection answers.

The widespread lack of awareness of the crucial role played by family caregivers in this country is truly shocking.

Linda Hugues
Newton Abbot, Devon

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