Craig Wehner and his wife Rachel Wehner purchased the former De Colores building and are leasing a large portion of it to Laural Hardin who is opening Petree Garden Center in early April. Photo by Carol A. Clark/ladailypost.com

Buliding owners Craig Wehner and his wife Rachel Wehner, right, with certified arborist Laural Hardin who together with Mike Petree of Taos owns the new garden center coming to Los Alamos and is the general manager. Photo by Carol A. Clark/ladailypost.com

Los Alamos natives Craig Wehner and his wife Rachel Wehner recently purchased the approximately 5,500 square-foot former De Colores building and have leased a large portion of the space to certified arborist Laural Hardin who together with Mike Petree of Taos owns the new garden center and is the general manager.

“We made this investment because we wanted to bring additional retail and services to the community,” Craig said during an interview Tuesday with the Los Alamos Daily Post.

Craig and his wife also own Los Alamos Landscaping & More, a full-service landscaping company serving Los Alamos and White Rock. They also own Digs Construction and 4W Investments, which they describe as businesses that complement each other. Another local company, Templeton Design, also plans to lease space in the building, Craig said.

“Los Alamos Landscaping & More moved into our new building last week and these other businesses will all be trickling in here through the summer as we complete renovations,” Craig said. “This will allow us to offer our customers all facets of gardening, landscaping and construction under one roof.”

Hardin is certified in Integrated Pest Management and specializes in plant disease and pests. She teaches classes for the Pajarito Environmental Education Center and has worked for the Pajarito Greenhouse in White Rock.

“Dave Fox (Pajarito Greenhouse owner) has been generous enough to have me on and Petree is one of his suppliers,” she said, adding that she expects to see him in the new garden center from time to time.

Fox said this morning that Los Alamos is extremely fortunate to have a plant expert such as Hardin living and working here. He expressed his full support of the new garden center and said he is turning 80 years old and will no longer operate his green house, which he did for some 20 years in Pajarito Acres.

Hardin has lived in Los Alamos for five years. She explained that Petree Nursery and Greenhouses has been operating since 1988 in Taos and is owned by Mike and Sylvia Petree. Petree is a grower and understands high elevation plant growing, she said.

“Our knowledgeable staff at the Los Alamos garden center will help customers through the whole gardening process,” Hardin said. “The idea is to fill the need here in Los Alamos for all things (in the plant realm) so people don’t have to drive off the hill. We will offer everything from professional arborist consulting to seed starting … really every piece has been covered.”

She said the garden center will be fully stocked with an anticipated opening in early April.

Both Craig and Rachel graduated in 1996 from Los Alamos High School. While they weren’t high school sweethearts they did get together after graduation and married in 2003. The couple has two sons.

“We are excited to open a garden center here and expand the offering for Los Alamos and we are excited to work with Laural,” Rachel said.

Craig showed signs of an entrepreneurial spirit from an early age. He received his first youth grant from the Los Alamos Small Business Center when he was 13. He launched “Craig’s Rake and Pick” and bought a lawnmower with the grant money. He laughed remembering that a customer pointed out to him the acronym for his business was CRAP.

“I did pick up after people’s dogs,” he joked.

Craig received several more youth grants in the years following and as his business expanded he renamed it Los Alamos Landscaping & more.

“We are so excited to expand into our new building and employ more people here in Los Alamos,” Craig said.

Products and Services include:

• Garden Supplies
• Plants
• Garden Consulting
• Landscape Design
• Rock Walls
• Segmental Retaining Walls
• Flagstone Patios & Walks
• New Sod Lawns
• Fences & Decks
• Outdoor Lighting
• Irrigation Systems & Repair
• Clean-Ups
• Maintenance
• Drainage
• Rock Work
• Decorative Bark/Mulch

For more information, call 505.662.6234 or visit www.losalamoslandscaping.com.

From left, Wilette Wehner who has worked with her son Craig Wehner since 2003, Craig and Rachel Wehner in their new office area Tuesday in the former De Colores building. Photo by Carol A. Clark/ladailypost.com

Craig Wehner explains they he and his wife Rachel intend to preserve the history of their newly purchased building such as the original brick that dates back to the Manhattan Project era. The windows are where folks passed their badges to enter the townsite. Photo by Carol A. Clark/ladailypost.com

Painting underway Tuesday at Petree Garden Center on East Road. Photo by Carol A. Clark/ladailypost.com