The London College of Garden Design (LCGD) Sam Taylor-Hunt Bursary provides the opportunity to train in planting design for a professional gardener who may not ordinarily be able to enrol in the Planting Design Diploma course.
Worth just under £7000, the bursary is offered with the support of the Professional Gardeners’ Guild (PGG) who represent professional gardeners employed in private gardens and estates, promoting contact, sharing information and skills.
The bursary is in memory of, and celebrates Sam Taylor-Hunt, an LCGD Graduate from the Planting Design Diploma and professional gardener who sadly passed away in 2024. Taylor-Hunt graduated in 2019 and developed his garden design business, Modica Gardens, which was known for high quality plant-focused design. He won the RHS Young Landscaper of the Year award and an RHS Gold Medal in 2016 before he studied with LCGD. Always interested in new ways of using and experimenting with plants, even appearing on BBC Gardeners World, Taylor-Hunt was always supportive of his profession and an inspiration to those who knew and worked with him.
“The bursary is in memory of, and celebrates Sam Taylor-Hunt, an LCGD Graduate from the Planting Design Diploma and professional gardener who we very sadly lost in 2024. Sam ran a very successful garden business and was interested in new ways of using and experimenting with plants, even appearing on BBC Gardeners World to explain his ideas. He was very supportive of his profession and an inspiration to those who knew and worked with him,” said LCGD Director Andrew Fisher Tomlin – who taught Taylor-Hunt.
The Planting Design Diploma course, based at Kew Gardens explores many different processes and approaches to planting design with a faculty made up of some of the world’s leading planting design experts such as Amanda Patton, Marion Mako, Thomas Rainer and Jo Thompson. The course is taught over 15 weeks, with sufficient breaks to make it comfortable to train whilst continuing to work.
Applicants must be UK based, over 18 years of age and have at least 2 years’ experience in horticulture. This can be as a professional gardener but could also be as a grower, botanist or have recently studied on a recognised horticulture course for a minimum of 2 years. As this bursary aims to support those who would not ordinarily be able to afford the course, we would expect that the successful applicant will be currently earning less than £30,000 per year.
Applications for the bursary for the Planting Design Diploma course (starting in January 2026) open 1st June and close 31st July 2025.
