Available Grants

International Travel Bursary

A travel bursary for young horticulturists wishing to pursue a number of different opportunities in the UK, across Europe or further afield. Grants of up to £1,500 are available to support travel, internships, work experience, research and conferences. More information below. There is no deadline – rolling application window so apply when you are ready!

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International Travel Bursary

We offer up to £1,500 to individual applicants to assist with worldwide travel projects. Applications can be submitted allowing recipients to carry out garden tours, undertake work experience and internships in gardens or other horticulturally-related areas, pursue research projects, visit conservation programmes, attend a conference or take part in horticultural skill-based short courses. Special recognition will be given to exciting or innovative projects. OPEN for applications: please read the guidance for applicants below.

Potential projects might involve:

  • Travel to visit gardens and plants growing in the wild. Also includes conferences, study fees (short skill courses only), and purely conservation-based projects. We strongly encourage applicants considering internships and work experience placements.
  • A special award for a heather-related project or internship is available. Thanks to a generous donation by The Heather Society,  projects that involve heather in cultivation or conservation projects of heather and heath habitats in the UK or Europe will be given special consideration. The project might be a study tour of heather collections at gardens, work experience in a specialist heather nursery, or contributing to a moorland or heathland restoration or research project.
  • A focus on green recovery that will be of interest to young horticulturists interested in growing their practical experience in sustainable horticulture and conservation horticulture, including the role of horticulture in habitat restoration. This award will support travel to and support at gardens and plant-related environmental projects with a sustainable or conservation focus. We would like to hear from you if you have a study tour or internship/work experience placement planned which looks at sustainability in horticulture – from improving the sustainability of public gardens to sustainable growing practices, or if you are planning research as part of a plant conservation or habitat restoration project. Special recognition will be given to exciting or innovative projects. Internships and work experience placements strongly encouraged.
  • A focus on health & wellbeing to explore the impact of horticulture on society, particularly the links between gardening and health. Examples could be work experience/internship with an horticultural therapy organisation or a study tour examining the role that gardens and contact with plants can play in improving health and wellbeing. There are many gardens and organisations who have created health and wellbeing gardens or are involved in horticultural therapy. Potential examples of organisations and gardens include Thrive, Trellis, Eden Project, Horatio’s Gardens and many other social prescribing sites in community and public gardens. Special recognition will be given to exciting or innovative projects. Internships and work experience placements strongly encouraged.

The Merlin Trust is keen to support internships at gardens or other horticultural organisations. This could include work experience of a few days to longer periods that allow applicants to more fully explore new areas of horticulture, work closely with particular plants or plant collections, experience different gardens and their microclimates and growing conditions, or work alongside a specialist to develop new skills. Please do contact the Merlin Trust Secretary if you have an idea you would like to discuss or for advice on gardens or organisations to approach for your area of interest.

There is no deadline for this award. Apply when you are ready but do ensure a minimum of SIX weeks between application and intended date of travel.

All application forms are available as Word documents. If you would like to receive a different format, please contact the Secretary.

Please read the application guidance notes below before downloading and completing an application form.

How To Apply:

  1. Read the eligibility criteria and guidance notes (see below) carefully to ensure you and your intended project qualify;
  2. Fill in all parts of the Application Form;
  3. Email your application to the Secretary with your name as the file name;
  4. Ensure your two referees email their references as attachments to the Secretary: your application will not be considered until both references have been received.
*You must allow a minimum of six weeks from submission of your application to the start of your project (see Guidance Notes for more detailed information). Please also note that a decision will not be made immediately after submission: there may be a delay of up to three weeks to allow the Trustees to review applications. Submissions will only be considered by the Trustees once both references have been received.

Other schemes opening in 2025!

The WRAGs (Work and Retrain as a Gardener scheme) Bursary

The WRAGs (Work and Retrain as a Gardener scheme) is run by horticultural charity, the WFGA, who match trainees with gardens where they are trained (part-time and paid the National Living Wage) under the supervision of the owner or head gardener.

Members of the charity also have access to a whole range of events and workshops, designed to develop horticultural skills.

WRAGs graduates have gone on to run their own garden business, work in plant nurseries and become head gardeners.

This bursary was open to existing WRAGs trainees to support them during their placement by covering travel costs, additional placements, or developing their training.  The application window ran from 1st June to 21st June 2024. Applications have now closed but will reopen in 2025.

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Schachen Alpine Garden Work Experience Grant

An opportunity to spend 2-3 weeks working in this world renowned garden in the mountains close to Munich. The application window has now closed for 2024 but do watch out for announcements for 2025!

McGregor Saxifrage Study Award

Watch out for news of the 2025 opportunity later this year. The application window for 2024 is now closed.

McGregor Saxifrage Study Award 2024

The McGregor Saxifrage Study Award is a relatively new award made possible by a generous donation from the Saxifrage Society and named in memory of one of the Society’s founding members, Malcolm McGregor, who devoted much of his life to writing about, lecturing on, growing and studying all types of Saxifrages. This award will fund saxifrage-related projects.

The McGregor Saxifrage Study Award 2024 will fund a one-week work experience opportunity at Waterperry Gardens near Oxford to learn more about alpine saxifrages – propagation, cultivation and management. The successful applicant will work alongside Saxifraga Collections Manager, Adrian Young, for an in-depth opportunity to learn more about the saxifrages grown at Waterperry with a particular emphasis on the two National Collections. Waterperry is home to almost 1,000 cultivars so this is a truly unique opportunity! For more about the collections at Waterperry, please see the website.

You will work Monday-Friday with Adrian from 8th to 12th April 2024. Please only apply if you are available for these dates. The Merlin Trust will fund transport to/from the garden, accommodation during the internship and other additional costs associated with the internship including a daily subsistence allowance.

You will need to have previous experience of working in horticulture including an interest in or experience of alpine plants. Students studying horticulture are very welcome to apply but you must demonstrate practical experience in your application. As with all Merlin Trust awards, you must be under 35 years of age or within the first five years of your horticultural career. Applicants will also be expected to follow COVID-safe guidelines for the duration of the work experience opportunity.

To apply, complete and submit the application form by 5pm on Monday 4th March 2024. Please provide two references at time of submission. If you have any questions about the opportunity, please contact the Merlin Trust Secretary.

The successful applicant will be notified within one week of the closing date.

Please read the application guidance notes below before downloading and completing an application form.

Schachen Alpine Garden Grant

A unique opportunity to spend time in a world renowned alpine garden in the mountains near Munich – perfect for any young horticulturist with an interest in alpine plants. A grant of £1,500 is available to support travel, accommodation and food during a two to three week visit to the garden during the summer months (from 19th June to 7th September). Accommodation is provided in the garden in dormitories. More information on travel and accommodation can be provided to any interested applicants – contact the Merlin Trust Secretary with any questions. Please note that this is a competitive grant – only one award is made each year.

More information:
Munich Botanic Garden – information about Schachen: Click here
AGS Schachen Garden Diary: Click here
Merlin Trust Schachen report – M770 Connor Smith: Click here
International Rock Gardener article (no. 121) by Connor Smith: Click here
Merlin Trust Schachen report – M800 Tim Heatherington: Click here
A reflection on my alpine adventure to the Schachen Alpengarten by Tim Heatherington: Click here

Application deadline is 5pm on Monday 19th February 2024. Please state in your application your preferred travel dates/provide an indication of your availability.

All application forms are available as Word documents. If you would like to receive a different format, please contact the Secretary.

Please read the application guidance notes below before downloading and completing an application form.

Report Guidelines:

If your grant application has been successful, you will be required to produce a report of your visit. While there is no set template for this, we do offer some advice via the guidance document below. So if you are unsure what is required, read the guidance or get in touch!