Matt Keightley AI Chelsea controversy

Matt Keightley, an award-winning British garden designer, is at the center of a dispute over artificial intelligence days before the 2026 RHS Chelsea Flower Show opens in London. The row followed a Guardian report published on May 13 that said fellow horticulturalists had criticized Keightley’s new AI-assisted platform, Spacelift, and questioned whether garden design was being automated at one of the industry’s highest-profile events. (theguardian.com) Spacelift says it is an end-to-end garden design platform “crafted by award-winning garden designers and powered by AI,” aimed at homeowners who want site-specific plans, shopping lists and contractor links. (spaceliftapp.com) The controversy has also spilled into tabloid coverage, with the Daily Star story recirculated via MSN describing Keightley as “Prince Harry’s gardener.” (rhs.org.uk) ### What exactly did Matt Keightley launch? Spacelift, which Keightley co-founded and where he is listed as creative director, is being marketed as an AI-assisted platform for designing and managing outdoor spaces. The company says users can scan a garden, describe what they want, upload inspiration images and receive photorealistic, site-specific designs, along with plans, plant schemes and materials lists. Pro Landscaper reported on April 28 that the platform would debut at the RHS Chelsea Flower Show 2026. The trade publication said Spacelift combines artificial intelligence, spatial measurement technology and Keightley’s professional design methodology, and that three full-scale show gardens designed using the platform would be unveiled at Chelsea. (theguardian.com) ### Why did the launch trigger a backlash before Chelsea opened? The Guardian reported on May 13 that Keightley’s use of the tool had drawn alarm from other horticulturalists, who said the app could replicate the work of garden designers and raised questions about authenticity. (spaceliftapp.com) The report said the dispute had broken out before the show, which opens next week at Royal Hospital Chelsea. The criticism appears to focus on authorship as much as software. Pro Landscaper said Spacelift was “not intended to remove the role of a garden designer,” and instead was designed to support the industry and widen access to garden planning. (prolandscapermagazine.com) That framing contrasts with the concerns described in the Guardian report that AI could blur the line between a designer’s individual practice and machine-generated output. ### What does Keightley and the company say the app is for? Keightley told Pro Landscaper that homeowners already use technology to design other parts of their homes and said gardens had lagged behind. (theguardian.com) Spacelift says its aim is to make garden design “intuitive, affordable, connected — and climate-conscious,” while also linking users to retailers and local contractors. The company’s website says professional garden design can cost more than £10,000 and presents the platform as a lower-cost entry point for people who struggle to visualize outdoor projects. (prolandscapermagazine.com) Maeve McDonald, Spacelift’s co-founder and chief executive, told Pro Landscaper the broader goal was to combine AI, data and expertise so homeowners could make better decisions for their spaces over time. ### Where does the “Prince Harry’s gardener” label come from? The Guardian’s report referred to Keightley’s 2015 Chelsea garden for Prince Harry, linking the designer to earlier royal work. A Daily Star article, carried by MSN and surfaced by NewsNow, used the phrase “Prince Harry’s gardener” and framed the dispute as a “betrayal,” a tabloid characterization that does not appear in the company’s materials. (prolandscapermagazine.com) That label matters because it widened the audience for what had started as a trade and culture story about design tools. The underlying facts reported elsewhere are narrower: Keightley is launching Spacelift at Chelsea, and the platform is being promoted through three gardens created with its system. (spaceliftapp.com) ### When will readers be able to see the gardens and the reaction for themselves? The RHS Chelsea Flower Show runs from May 19 to May 23, 2026, at Royal Hospital Chelsea in London, according to the RHS event page. (aitopics.org) The BBC said its coverage begins on Sunday, May 17, with programming across BBC One, BBC Two and iPlayer during show week. Those dates are the next test for Keightley and Spacelift. The three full-scale gardens cited by Pro Landscaper are due to be on display when Chelsea opens, putting the debate over AI, authorship and garden-making in front of RHS visitors and television audiences within days. (prolandscapermagazine.com) (rhs.org.uk)