A secret garden of waterfalls, flowers, and vegetables hidden behind a slope of tidy shrubs, just over the Falls Church border into Arlington, won the 2014 Arlington Garden of the Year contest sponsored by the Rock Spring Garden Club.

Mary and Steve Jennings’ garden at 6033 Washington Blvd., a certified wildlife habitat with a 2,000-gallon below-ground rainwater reservoir, won first place among 16 entries judged by representatives of the Landscape Design Council of the National Capital Area Garden Clubs and the Master Gardeners of Northern Virginia.

During a tour after the June 12 awards presentation, artist Mary Jennings cited rows of irises, cast-off furniture, vegetables planted in wooden pallets, and even an old faucet perched at the edge of a koi pond as evidence of her recycling mission. Mary Jennings said her husband Steve, an engineer, was instrumental in designing the rain garden garden as part of a project to keep water away from the home, which also was featured on the Green Home and Garden tour sponsored by Arlingtonians for a Clean Environment.