Nicky Kleinhenz leading students on a discovery walk through the Houston Arboretum & Nature Center

Nickey Kleinhenz has been involved with the Houston Arboretum & Nature Center since he was six. "I came to a lot of classes when I was little," he says. "At one class I got a pond in a jar. I kept it and got more stuff for it. Since then, I’ve made a pond in my backyard and landscaped it.

"Of all the classes – making paper, turtle day – I really enjoyed going out to the ponds and seeing the frogs on the banks, the turtles out in the middle and catching tadpoles. Being able to see how small and intricate everything was at a young age really got me interested."

Instead of taking classes at the Arboretum, Mr. Kleinhenz, now a senior in high school, takes after-school groups of inner-city children on discovery walks through the Nature Center. He particularly enjoys pointing out "animals’ homes" to the children. "I like to show them places where the animals live and where they’ve been. I’d like to get them interested enough so they respect their connection with all of the animals in nature, so they know what’s going on and can get a kick out of seeing something as great as a butterfly cocoon on a plant or a rabbit hole in their backyard."

In addition to sharing his wondrous childhood experiences, Mr. Kleinhenz also has transformed his family’s backyard with ponds, plants, rocks and animals. "Most of the plants in my backyard, I’ve found or rescued," he explains. "I dug up some bulbs real quick at a construction site because they would have been under concrete, and I didn’t want that to happen."

Mr. Kleinhenz’s love of nature and involvement with the Arboretum has been a family affair. His mother helps him with the backyard, and they each have their own "special plants." His four brothers have taken classes at the Arboretum. Mr. Kleinhenz says with a touch of awe, "My youngest brother knows every single bug there is. He got a field guide from me one Christmas, and he’s almost memorized it. It’s just so weird, because he’s only eight.

"I made a butterfly garden around the pond in the backyard, and he goes out there and just loves the butterflies and finds their eggs. He really likes insects. I think it’s because they’re so small."

Next year, Mr. Kleinhenz will begin college and is considering only schools with strong horticulture departments. He says, "I definitely want to pursue a career in landscape design. Those classes at the Arboretum really started something. I spend about every spare moment planting plants, looking at plants, finding out about plants. My favorite thing to do is to go out in the backyard and take care of the plants, to watch what’s going on and to see what has happened."

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