Keeping plants at home is thought to have a positive effect on the mind and on wellbeing. Pictures of them may also bring in plenty of likes on Instagram.

But how beneficial are they for the environment?

From raising seedlings to making reusable plastic pots, horticulturists, botanists and environmentalists in Britain are working in many ways to keep your gardening hobby going.

The Royal Horticultural Society (RHS) says the trend of keeping small gardens at home is growing, rising by nearly 60 per cent in the last six months of 2019 compared with 2018.

The trend is seen as belonging to an environmentally friendly and health-conscious millennial generation, who are trying to create greenery in their small city homes and to nurture something "real" in an increasingly digital age.

In the UK, at least four in every five people aged 16 to 24 have a plant at home.

An RHS survey found that at least a fifth of them bought plants with their health and wellbeing in mind.

Interest in plants has reached the point where several online retailers now deliver plants right to people's homes.

Patch, which claims to be London's largest online plant seller, is one of them. It gives its plants nicknames such as "Chaz" or "Big Ken" before they are handed over to their would-be "plant parents".

Source: BBC Bangla. First published in Bengali on The Agro News.