The Royal Horticultural Society has put together new gardening advice for those turning to the pastime in the coronavirus lockdown.

The RHS has experienced an explosion in visitors to its website, with some of its advice pages seeing a 500 per cent increase in readers.

To meet the heightened demand for gardening tips, the RHS has launched its ‘Grow at Home’ campaign to share more exclusive advice for its members.

Sue Biggs, RHS director general, said: “Our overriding charitable remit is growing gardeners, which we do through sharing expert gardening advice, amassed over 200 years, to help and encourage everyone, from beginner to professional, to garden and grow plants.

“Over the coming weeks we will increase our video advice content and social media to help everyone, including this new generation of gardeners, to grow.

“We’ll also be doing more online and exclusively for our members who are the lifeblood at the very heart of our organisation and we are more grateful than ever for their support during this time.”

“Gardening, and getting back to nature, is we know good for our health and wellbeing, especially our mental health, and so we will do all we can to provide advice and ideas for people to keep growing, whether this be in their garden, or balcony or window sill.

"We also have lots of advice on house plants and how to use your cut flowers indoors.

“Sowing seeds now, provides immense satisfaction and beauty for the future.

“Grow at Home is all about encouraging people where they can to stay home and garden.”

The RHS' ten top tips for April:

  • Sow seeds, lettuce, carrots, leeks, wild flowers and garden annuals such as nigella and pot marigolds outdoors
  • Sow tender plants, cosmos and zinnia for example and vegetables such as courgettes, melons, sweet corn, pumpkins and squash indoors to plant out in six weeks
  • Plant artichokes, potatoes, onion sets and shallots before the middle of the month
  • Propagate shrubs and climbers by layering, bending shoots to ground level, covering with soil and leaving until autumn when the shoot can be severed to make a new plant
  • Take cuttings form new shoots, delphiniums, asters and chrysanthemums for example, as well as tender plants such as fuchsias and geraniums, to make new plants
  • Pot up seedlings and divisions to help them grow into healthy robust plants
  • Repot potted plants that have finished flowering such as camellia and those which are not yet growing - canna for example, to keep then m strong and healthy
  • Support UK nurseries and search RHS find a plant, to buy plants from nurseries online. Now is the time to plant tender bulbs and tubers such as begonia, dahlia and gladioli, towards the end of the month in the north
  • Weed Lawn as required, but leave some for wild flowers to grow if possible. Thicken thin lawns by 'overseeding', sprinkling on grass seed and raking to cover it
  • Winkle out seeds now before their roots go deep or they set seed. Leave them as long as you can in wild areas to feed wildlife