Westfield -- Garden of Mandy and Telly Zachariades, The

This suburban garden surrounding a 1912 stucco house was started in 2001 from a grassy hill and has evolved into an oasis of privacy for homeowners, wildlife, and evokes the feel of an English country house garden in suburban New Jersey. Beginning in 2001 the owners installed a swimming pool and many retaining walls on their steeply sloping property and planted around the pool and house, eventually developing nine distinct garden rooms. The curved driveway bed is planted for privacy and to attract birds. The sunken gardens in front of the house have moss and slate checkerboards on either side of the portico, an English lead lion's head fountain, English boxwood, and a Lutyens style bench. Behind a tall cedar fence there are three rose and clematis covered arbors on an axis bisected by perennial borders supported by stacked stone retaining walls, and sunny lawns. Steps lead to native plant and woodlands gardens where paths meander and tons of boulders that were brought in help retain the soil, with plants in the crevices. Woodland plants include hosta, fern, Solomon's seal, bleeding heart, Virginia blue bells, celandine poppies, hydrangeas, and pin oaks, bottlebrush buckeye, shadbush, ostrich ferns and carex.

Planted terraces defined by more stacked stone walls overlook the swimming pool and cabana, with ornamental grasses providing a low border between the pool and woodlands. A curving bluestone dining terrace overlooks the pool; curving hardscape is a repeated motif of this property. Hidden behind the cabana there is a shed with its own blowsy English-style garden, birdbath and birdhouses, with winding herringbone brick walks. More stone steps lead up from the pool to a formal gateway garden with planted urns that borders the driveway. Plants for this property were chosen for year-round color, winter interest, food and cover for wildlife and birds, and to retain the slope which was subject to wash-outs before the gardens were installed. Visitors to the garden include foxes, coyotes, chipmunks, ducks, rabbits, a groundhog, many species of songbirds and deer.

Persons associated with the garden include: Mandy Zacharides (garden owner, designer and Master gardener), Mr. and Mrs. Smith (former owners, -1950); Mr. Henry Callahan (former owner, 1951-2001); Charlie Juliano (landscape designer, 2001); John Gallo (pool designer, 2001); Steve Costello (landscaper, 2001- ); Susan Fraser, inspiration for sunken pool, 2006).

John Gallow designed the fountain and pool.