The Gills Yard housing development is set in the Wakefield Civic Quarter. The development at Wood Street has been an important location since the early 19th century and is surrounded by Regency and Victorian civic buildings.

The soft landscaping around this public realm projects was completed by J Paxman Landscapes in October 2025.  Its soft landscape areas feature ornamental planted beds, hedged boundaries, specimen planting and grassed areas. The design has carefully distributed these natural elements to frame movement routes, softening hard lines and creating cohesion in greenery across the site.

Ornamental Beds and Hedging

Along building edges, within courtyards and between housing blocks, the team planted herbaceous varieties including Alchemilla mollis, Hosta Big Daddy, Hellebores and Bergenias. Hedges were planted to define boundary edges, screen service areas and provide enclosure where needed, naturally shielding views without creating harsh barriers.

Specimen trees and shrubs for structure

Specimen trees, strategically positioned, have been planted within the grassed areas and alongside key routes and spaces, creating focal elements and waymarkers within the landscape. Mulched tree pits were created within grassed areas to support establishment. For mid-level mass and texture, the team placed and planted shrubs, climbers, ferns and grasses for height and definition, including Carex elata Aurea, Clematis armandii and Polystichum setiferum. Finishing the design with turfed areas, the overall landscape planting was completed efficiently and exactly to the specification, with the area cleared and dressed, ready for its first homeowners to move in.

The Collaboration

• Contractor: Mulberry Construction Group
• Designer: Smeeden Foreman
• Landscape Contractor: J Paxman Landscapes Limited
• Completed: October 2025

J Paxman Landscapes provide public realm and commercial soft landscaping services for major retail, business and residential projects across the North and nationwide.