Faces of Green Spring
by Ivy Sinaiko
It’s not often that you say goodbye to people only to have them come back into your life several years later. That has happened to me with Judy Zatsick, to my great pleasure.
Self photo by Judy ZatsickJudy is now the manager of Green Spring Gardens where previously she worked as a gardener, plant store manager, and horticulturist. Knowing that she has a fascinating background but not knowing the details, I sat down with her recently to hear her story.
Judy hails from Michigan, where she was raised in a big family with seven children. Her mother was a self-taught botanist who used their three acres to plant mixed borders and vegetables, collect plants on woodland walks, and raise orchids. Judy’s father also grew vegetables.
Judy attended the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor, where she majored in natural resources and fine art. This double major shows the two major interests in her life: plants and art. During college she worked for the Audubon Society of Rhode Island and the National Park Service at the Grand Canyon. Eventually she moved to D.C., where she was a book designer and writer for the National Wildlife Federation and met her future husband, who worked for the State Department.
Two weeks after their wedding, Judy and her husband set off for the Ivory Coast, where they stayed for two years. They lived in a walled compound and had a security guard armed with a bow and poisoned arrows! Judy learned French during her stay in Africa and enjoyed visiting tropical plant nurseries for their garden.
Their next assignment was in Milan, Italy. In Milan, Judy learned Italian on the job while working at a publishing company. After four years, she and her husband returned to the D.C. area, where she used her graphics skills as the art director at the Academy for Educational Development, a non-governmental organization. Ben, Judy’s son, was born during this D.C. interlude, but soon the family was off to Taiwan. While living there, Judy worked at the U.S. Embassy producing their newsletter and was a docent at the National Palace Museum, which has the largest collection of Chinese art in the world.
After four years in Taiwan, the family moved on to Brussels, where Judy found the French/Flemish dichotomy and international flavor fascinating. In Brussels, Judy got a painting certificate. (At this point in our conversation, she pointed out to me one of her own paintings hanging in her office. It is of four trees and represents Judy and her three sisters.)
At this point in their peripatetic life, Judy and her husband decided they wanted their son to have an American education, so they moved back to the States and settled here. Judy became both a Fairfax County Master Gardener and a studio artist at the Lorton Workhouse. Eventually, she came to work at Green Spring as a gardener. She took classes at Northern Virginia Community College to fill in gaps in her knowledge of landscape design. She helped Mary Frogale manage the Green Spring plant shop and assumed Mary’s position when Mary retired. In the setting of Green Spring, Judy felt that she had finally combined her dual interests—art and gardening.
After eleven years at Green Spring, Judy took on a new challenge, working at the Oak Spring Garden Foundation in Upperville, VA. This estate, formerly owned by philanthropist and garden designer Bunny Mellon, is in the middle of the Virginia hunt country, quite a change from the urban setting of Green Spring. After two years there, Judy was ready for an easier commute, so when the position of Green Spring manager came open, she decided that coming back to Green Spring would be just right. And I think it has been just right for her and Green Spring.
I asked Judy what her goals were for her new position. She said that she loves Green Spring and is concerned that it is in a precarious place as a public garden. Her goal is to set it back on solid footing. Welcome back, Judy. I’m sure that FROGS will do everything it can to help you succeed in that effort.
