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SPRING HOME IMPROVEMENTD2 APRIL 2012 THE NORTH PLATTE TELEGRAPH

By DIANE WETZEL dwetzel@nptelegraph.com

As the tem-peraturesrise andthe world

begins to green up,thoughts oftenturn to sprucingup the homestead.Spring home im-provements rangefrom the simple(washing win-dows, replacingthat pesky leak-ing faucet in thebathroom) to themore complicated(and expensive)projects.

The important thing is toplan ahead.

“People should really talkto an expert before theyjump into a project,” said lo-cal Ace Hardware storemanager AJ Hunt. “Theyneed to be thinking aboutwhat parts they are going toneed and talk to a local ex-pert if they have never doneit before.”

Do-It Center owner DaveHarrold suggests peoplethink about the basics be-fore jumping into any bigprojects.

“I’m thinking caulking,”Harrold said. “You need tohave your home weather-

ized before you paint or doany projects. Making yourhome more airtight willkeep cool air in and hot airout and vice versa.”

Think about things thatcome in a tube, he suggest-ed. Caulking, roof patchand cement filler.

“When a nice day comesalong, grab an adjustablewrench and a screwdriverand wander around,” hesaid. “Tighten up thoseloose boards and loosescrews that may have comeloose during the winter. It’sa way of enjoying yourhome without doing a lot ofwork.”

A preliminary look and

tightening up will revealwhat projects need to befirst on a homeowners listfor spring projects, he said.

“It will also help keep youin repair mode instead ofremodel,” he said. “There ismore than a subtle differ-ence there. Preventive main-tenance is not that difficultand could save you fromsome big bills later on. If ahinge on your gate is twist-ed, straighten it out, don’twait for it to break.”

Spring is a good time tocheck out the roof and gut-ters, making sure there areno leaks or potential formold, checking out air con-ditioning units (better now

that when the temperaturereaches the 90s) and check-ing outdoor faucets andhoses. Check sidewalks,porches and driveways forcracks in the cement.

Now is also a good time tomake sure lawn and gar-den equipment is readyfor the season.

“For those folkswho are so inclinedand have the skills,now is a good timeto get out theirtrimmers, mow-ers and such tomake sure theyare in goodshape,” Harroldsaid.

Some low-costdo it yourselfspring projectsinclude:

Washingwindows — Allthat is reallyneeded is some win-dow cleaner or a mix-ture of white vinegar andwater. For exterior win-dows, consider getting apressurized washer. Clean-ing windows is a good wayto check for any potentialdamage done during thewinter as well. You can useit to wash decks and dingysiding as well.

Garage clean up —Spring is a good time toclean out and organize thespace that is supposed to beused to house cars and out-door equipment, not serveas a catch all for a year’s ac-cumulation of stuff. Sortgarage stuff by category,such as gardening, sportsequipment, car clean up,etc., and think about in-stalling shelving to organ-ize. Use the handy pressurewasher to clean the garagefloor.

By ANDREW BOTTRELLabottrell@nptelegraph.com

The key to buildingthat new deck is doingwhat you want.

But there are somethings to keep in mind,whether you’ve hired acontractor, or you buildit yourself.

If you are hiring acontractor, JustinZirnig, a salesman atKildare Lumber, sug-gests getting them in-volved in the process asearly as possible.

“If someone willbuild the deck for you,get that hired person in-volved in the very be-ginning, so there’s noconfusion half waythrough,” he said. Thatensures that you get thedeck you’ve envisioned,and not the deck thatthey have.

For do-it-yourselfers,there are two phonecalls you need to makebefore you get started.The first is to the Ne-braska Diggers Hotline,which you can call tollfree at 1-800-331-5666.

“Call your diggershotline, because youdon’t know where anyof those lines are,”Zirnig said. “That’s oneof the first things youwant to do before youstart building.”

Second, you need tocontact the municipali-ty you live in to checkfor any codes, or vari-ances you may need.Zirnig said North Plattedoesn’t have a deck

code, but its safe to callthe city before you start.

Zirnig also recom-mended that any do-it-yourselfer take a roughsketch in to any locallumber store, and getsome help from the ex-perts.

“They can come to mewith a rough sketch ona napkin,” he said.“They give me an ideaof dimensions and thenwe go from there. I’llshow them options —there are tons of op-tions. Different decks,different sizes, differentstyles.”

The next step is deter-mining what your budg-et is, and that will deter-mine how much youcan do, Zirnig said, in-cluding whether you gowith a composite deck,or an all-wood deck.There isn’t a specific

type of wood more con-ducive to Nebraskaweather, he said.

“I’ll sell a lot of treat-ed redwood and cedardecks,” he said. “We domore redwood andtreated, is the most[common].”

For example, treatedwood is going to be thecheapest option, hesaid, but it will end upin you replacing moreboards over the longrun.

If you are doing ityourself, there are a lotof rules of thumb to re-member, which he saidany lumber store canhelp you out with. Mostof it’s based on the sizeof the deck.

“Get really familiarwith the material andbuilding it correctly.You’ve got to have a lotof the specifics, andrules of thumb,” hesaid. “You’ve really gotto research that. It’s gotto be long-lasting andgood.”

Ready, set, spring projectsArea fix-it experts encourage homeownersto be ‘in repair mode instead of remodel’

If your garage looking like a bit of a mess? Spring isn’t just a greattime for cleaning and fix-it projects inside the house — it’s the perfectopportunity to get your garage, garden shed or other outbuildingsorganized for the summer.

File image

While real wood can be an excellent choice for a new deck, composite or syntheticdecking can combine a finish that resists stains, scratches and mold with a natural-look-ing, wood-grain pattern in deep, saturated colors inspired by the great outdoors.

The Associated Press

Building a new deck?Ideas to keep in mindHiring contractors, digginghotlines, materials and more

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The Associated Press

A creative sideline forgardeners is plant prop-agation, or enhancingthe landscape throughreproduction.

It’s also a cheap wayto fill flowerbeds andherbal containers whileprices continue toclimb.

Methods of propaga-tion range from seedsowing to grafting, andall require varying de-grees of skill.

“For propagation,you don’t need an edu-cation but you mayneed some guidance,”said Ken Druse, authorof the new “MakingMore Plants: The Sci-ence, Art and Joy ofPropagation” (Stewart,Tabori and Chang).“Most often, though,it’s all about startingplants from seeds.”

Seeds are an econom-ical way to grow inbulk, even if you mustbuy them in commer-cially prepared packets.“Getting your seedsfrom a proven source isa good way to ensurehigh production,”Druse said.

Here is a propagationglossary, describing themost commonly usedmethods:

Sowing seeds:

Druse starts his seedsin 3½-inch pots, top-ping the soil with finesand. “Moist soil is agreat medium for seedsbut also for fungus,which can kill a greatmany sprouts in just acouple of weeks,” hesaid. “Gravel is not ahospitable medium forfungus.”

Stem, leaf or rootcuttings: Pieces of theparent plant are cut andplaced in water or asuitable growing medi-um until roots develop.They become clones, orjunior versions of theoriginals and soon areready for transplanting.

Layering: A prac-tice usually done withwoody plants where liv-ing stems are placed onthe ground with theirtips forced downward.They receive nourish-ment from the parentplants while roots formon the planted ends, en-abling them to eventual-ly be separated andgrow unaided.

Grafting: Branchesare removed from onewoody plant and se-cured to another untilthey “take” or begin togrow. That unites cer-tain desirable charac-teristics from one plant— say hardiness, dwarf-ing or faster fruiting —

with those of its host.Apple trees commonlyare grafted, as areJapanese maples.

Dividing: Perenni-als should be dividedonce they outgrow theirsites. That improvestheir health, bulks upfoliage and producesmore flowers. “Depend-ing upon the species,these divisions maygrow to be as large asthe original plant byseason’s end: moreplants for free,” Drusesaid.

“Sowing seeds, cut-tings and division arethe most prevalentforms of propagationdone by home garden-ers,” said Rosie Lerner,an extension consumerhorticulturist with Pur-due University. “It’s a

little work but wellworth the effort. It’s amatter of knowingwhich parts of theplants to split off and di-vide. Many have a highdegree of success.”

And then there areplant swaps, which adda social component togarden building.

Be careful of thosepass-along plants fromneighbors and friends,though — the kindthey’re willing to tradebecause they have somany. Some could beinfested with mites,while others may be in-vasive.

“Some plants arethugs,” Druse said. “Any-thing so easy to propa-gate may not be thatgreat to have aroundyour yard.”

SPRING HOME IMPROVEMENT APRIL 2012 D3THE NORTH PLATTE TELEGRAPH

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By ANDREW BOTTRELLabottrell@nptelegraph.com

Spring is here, the rainshave started to fall, andhomeowners are beginningto get out and survey theirlawns and gardens.

After a warm, dry winter,coming off an abnormallywet spring and summer in2011, there are several thingsgardeners need to watch outfor this spring.

“The warm weather doesnot help our chances ofbreaking disease and insectcycles from growing year togrowing year,” said DavidLott, district horticulture ex-tension educator with theWest Central Research andExtension Center in NorthPlatte. “When we have a coldyear that does help kill off in-sect populations, and alsohelps reduce plant diseaserisks that come along withthat.”

Lott said soil temperaturesshould be warmer thisspring season, even thoughfrost has been present somedays, because the air temper-ature has stayed above nor-mal. He also said soil willwarm up quicker in theseconditions, as well.

Even with a downturn intemperatures in mid-April,as storms and a cold frontcame through, the University

of Nebraska-Lincoln Exten-sion Center said it shouldn’thave a large effect on lawns,or gardens, unless night tem-peratures drop well belowfreezing.

It also wasn’t enough to killoff some of the early weeds.According to a press releasefrom the extension office onApril 10, an advantage of thecool weather is that it canslow down weeds, thoughthis current spell probably isnot enough to kill them.

While the winter months

have been relatively dry, withlittle precipitation, lastspring and summer was un-usually wet for west-centralNebraska.

“Moisture in the springcan help slow down thespread of the grasshopperpopulation, for instance.Which is helpful in thatcase,” Lott said. “Last yearwe had a plentiful crop ofrose chafers that had theright conditions to expand inthe Sandhills, because theyrequire a sandy soil condi-

tion, and the environmentalconditions were just right.They caused a lot of damageon home gardens and land-scapes.”

With the warm, dry winter,it’s possible that a higherthan average number of in-sects survived the wintermonths, Lott said. He saidgardeners can get a generalsense of if any insects havesurvived by surveying plantdebris or testing the top fewinches of the soil.

Though last spring andsummer were wet, many ar-eas have had the chance todry out during the fall andwinter months, and may re-quire some moisture beforegardeners begin to work.Lott said gardeners want 8 to12 inches of soil to be moistbefore beginning to cultivate.With conditions as dry asthey are, the soil may need tobe watered before tilling. Hecautions gardeners, however,to wait until the sitting waterpercolates before tilling.

“If we have to water first,we need to water and let thewater percolate through thesoil and wait before we doanything else,” he said.

Gardeners who have usedcompost, and have a covercrop are more likely to retainsome moisture in the topsoilof their gardens, Lott said.

Many area gardeners alsoexperienced flooding condi-tions during the planting sea-son in 2011, and that can havea big impact on the garden-ing season in 2012, as well.

“The main thing to look for

is when we’ve had plant ma-terial under water or saturat-ed soils is to watch the pat-tern of growth this spring asthey break dormancy,” Lottsaid.

Different species of plantsare also affected differentlyby standing water, and satu-rated soils. For example, thecottonwood tree can sit inwater and be OK, which iswhy many cottonwoodsthrive near rivers and lakes.However, evergreens do notfair as well in saturated soils,and even worse under water,Lott said.

Chemicals that may enterthe runoff from upstream inflooding conditions, can alsoaffect how annual plants anddeciduous trees survivefloods.

Likewise, whether the wa-ter was flowing, or standing,can also have a large impacton whether or not the plantsurvived. The best thing, Lottsaid, is to wait and watch.

“It can be agonizing,” hesaid. “[Homeowners and gar-deners] want to do some-thing. They want to find ananswer. To respond and dothe best they can. It’s hard towait and it’s hard to watch,but that’s the best thing to do— wait and watch.”

Wet years can also bringblight and powdery mildew,Lott said. That can be com-pounded in cities where youmay have a privacy fence,which actually hinders theflow of air. That stagnant aircan make conditions worsein high humidity years.

Weird weather may create unique issues for lawn, garden this summer

Bugs, drought and disease, oh my!

Plant seedlings are shown in this photo taken March 26,2009 in New Market, Va.,. A great creative sideline for gar-deners is plant propagation, or enhancing the landscapethrough reproduction. It’s also a cheap way to fillflowerbeds and herbal containers.

The Associated Press

Propagation a cheap way tobuild garden plant collection

File photo

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THE NORTH PLATTE TELEGRAPHD4 APRIL 2012 SPRING HOME IMPROVEMENT

The Associated Press

Bold, dramatic and invig-orating, Tangerine Tango isdancing its way into homedecor trends in 2012 with apunch of reddish-orangepanache.

The hue is a vivacious al-ternative to last year’scheery honeysuckle, and de-sign experts say it’s easy toincorporate into any home.

Pillows, bedspreads andtabletop accessories in thishigh-impact color can addspice to any room. Or addtangerine appliances andpersonal electronics for anunexpected pop of color,says Leatrice Eiseman, exec-utive director of the Pan-tone Institute, the researcharm of the Carlstadt, N.J.-based Pantone Inc., whichsets color standards for thehome and fashion indus-tries.

“It’s the perfect color tomove us out of the dull anddreary winter months andinto spring,” says SabrinaSoto, host of HGTV’s “TheHigh Low Project.”

Paint/WallpaperOne easy and inexpensive

way to brighten up yourhome and stay on top of thetrends is to paint an accentwall in this hot hue.

A bit gun-shy of a tanger-ine living room? Secondaryrooms, such as powderrooms and entryways, areperfect places to experimentwith bold colors, Soto says.

“Surprise your guestswith walls that pop,” shesays.

Wallpaper by Pennsylva-

nia-based York Wallcover-ings dives head-first into thetangerine trend with a vari-ety of luminescent, metallicgold patterns set againstspicy orange backgrounds.

New Jersey-based ThibautDesign offers wallpaper inornate, intricate, Jacobeanpaisleys and fancifulplumed birds in this year’scolor, as well as less dramat-ic florals set against a creambackground.

FurnitureA lacquered side table or

club chair and ottoman aresmall yet powerful ways topop this color into a roomthrough furniture.

“Sometimes the most sub-tle of gestures are the mostoutstanding,” says LauraDailey, vice president ofmerchandising with At-lanta-based Ballard Designs.“Use it on a smaller piece offurniture ... it’s like what atie does to a suit, that stand-alone piece that makes sucha grand statement.”

A dark reddish orange,tangerine goes well withneutrals like grays andbeiges, as well as with dis-tressed wood finishes, andcan be worked into virtuallyany era, from Arts andCrafts to modern minimal-ism.

Designer Suzanne Kasler,who partners with Ballard,used a heavy tangerine linenfrom the European-inspiredhome furnishings retailer toupholster a pair of tuftedslipper chairs that are pic-tured with nautical accentsincluding a seashell-linedmirror, rattan baskets and

large glass lanterns.A similar tufted chair can

be found on Ballard’s sitestarting at $199 (www.bal-larddesigns.com).

CB2 makes a parlor chairin “atomic orange”(www.cb2.com) for $699, aswell as a blood orange “knit-ted pouf” that Soto likes as asmall seat or ottoman.

She also recommendsWest Elm’s cast-aluminumMartini side table that re-tails for $123 (www.west-elm.com) and can double asa coffee table when paired intwos or threes.

AccentsPersian rugs, dishtowels,

candlesticks and vases areall fun, inexpensive ways tobring tangerine into yourhome through accent pieces.

“Try some fresh new tow-els in your bathroom,” Sotosays. “This fun color is theperfect contrast to white tileand porcelain.”

She also likes an orange-and-cream stoneware vasefrom Target at $24.99(www.target.com), and or-ange porcelain mini bowlsfrom Crate and Barrel(www.crateandbarrel.com)for a pop of color in thekitchen at $1.95 each.

For lighting, Anthropolo-gie offers a stacked glasstable lamp ($298) a la 1970skitsch in citrus shades(www.anthropologie.com),while a more modern shapecan be found in the orangedome pendant by Kartell, for$263 (www.lumens.com).

Throw pillows in a varietyof tangerine-esque shadesare everywhere, includingtraditional stores likeLinens ‘N Things, for $69.99(www.lnt.com) and more un-traditional ones like special-ty lighting retailer Lamps

Plus, for $78.91 (www.lamp-splus.com).

Soto reminds homeownersnot to forget simple toucheslike a bouquet of fresh or-ange tiger lilies or gerberadaisies.

“A glossy, lacquered, red-orange serving tray can bethe perfect punch of colorfor your ottoman or coffeetable,” she says.

Spring’s hot color for homes? TangerineCheerful reddish-orange great foreverything from accents to walls

In this image released by YorkWallcoverings, an Arabella inMetallic Gold on Orange Spicewall pattern is shown. Bold, dra-matic and invigorating, TangerineTango is dancing its way intohome decor trends in 2012 with apunch of reddish-orangepanache. The hue is a vivaciousalternative to last year’s cheeryhoneysuckle.

The Associated Press

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