Casper Star-Tribune from Casper, Wyoming • 45

Star Tribune SUNDAY, JUNE 4, 2006 Features editor day Anthony an be reached at (307) 2660535, 1-800-5590583 a c.antrKXTycasrrstartnbune.net SECTION 11 TIPS TOOLS "Some classes are geared towards do-it-yourselfers, especially the evening classes. The want to do it is all that's really required. If you have the machines and you know how to use them correctly, you can make about anything." JEM SEARS, CONSTRUCTION TECHNOLOGY INSTRUCTOR AT CASPER COLLEGE FROM STAFF AND WIRE REPORTS Over your head? The producers of the new Home and Garden Television show "Over Your Head realize many a homeowner wasn't born with the innate ability to remodel a bathroom or backyard. The popular cable television channel will air the new show this fall featuring homeowners who took on home-improvement projects, then abandoned them when i. 9t fa they realized they were in over their heads.

Two familiar home-improvement personalities Eric Stromer, of "Clean Sweep" and Bemie Meisinger of "Makeover Mamas" come to the rescue and get things done right. For more information, go online to www.overyourhead.tv. AIArticricsn flower "Perfume Deep Purple" nkotiana is a 2006 AILAmerican Selections flower that may interest Wyoming The variety was bred for a delicate evening fragrance and abundant blooms with a unique deep purple color, according to a press release from AftAmerica Selections. In full sun, it reaches a height of 20 inches with a spread of 15-18 niches, ft readily adapts to containers and a semi-shade environment All-American Selections annually tests new vegetable and flower varieties for superior performance. For more information, go online at www.alFamericaselections.com.

Watch for other selections in future Tips and Tools sections. 1-i-rrW I 'mr mi in Sarah Beth Barnett. Star-Tribune Ruth Doyle, left, and Rodney Mundell work on their projects during a cabinetmaking class at Casper College. ome improvement school Clematis tips College classes help do-it-yourselfers By WILLY ZIMMER Star-Tribune staff writer the place or the room or the money to buy all the tools I'd like to have," he said. "Plus, about 15 years ago the wife decided to do away with a stove top and oven, so she tore that and the cupboards out and we haven't had anything since.

So I decided to build them." Lauderdale said he plans on taking more classes, which Sears said is common. "Most of the time what happens is they'll come in wanting to do that and then end up coming back over and over how to use them correctly, you can make about anything." Chuck Lauderdale is one student with a want to do it. He and his son-in-law, David Lake, built a cabinet this spring out of alder and melamine a composite wood product often used in cabinets. Lauderdale said the cabinet will fill a space in his home that badly needs filling, while the work provides much enjoyment. "I've always been interested in working with wood.

I just don't have because they really enjoy the class," he said, "or they have something else they want to build. I have a lot of repeats." Casper College isn't the only Wyoming community college with construction programs. Laramie Community College also offers classes some have found handy for home improvement. Gloria Smith, a program assistant for Life Enrichment, said a course on drywall applications sometimes attracts do-it-yourselfers. Sheri Johnson, LCCC's administrative assistant for Business and Technology, said some have also found an automotive upholstering class can be useful for home applications.

"I know that one of our instructors last summer took this class and she worked on a chair in her house to learn the techniques for this," Johnson said. "That one is certainly adaptable." Community college courses are limited by size and space, so they certainly won't qualify a student to host a home improvement show on The Learning Channel or HGTV. But t)iey are one more tool in the box for home improvers, and the knowledge is there for the taking. "You really don't have to be handy, and you move at the pace you want to move," Sears said. "And the nontradi-tional students are really a lot of fun.

More people should try it." Assistant features editor Willy Zimmer is a former grounds manager and certified arborist. He can be reached at (307) 266-0524 or via email at The wood shop at Casper College's Werner Tech building was a bustling scene during Jim Sears' cabinetmaking classes this spring. Most Monday and Thursday nights students could be found hustling from one machine to the next, working hard on finishing their woodworking creations. Saws screamed through sheets and boards. Planers and routers noisily did what planers and routers do transform wood into useful and pleasing shapes.

But if a visitor looked closer through safety glasses, of course they might notice the students looked a bit different. A few fit the typical demographic 20-something with the occasional tattoo andor a piercing. But most were far removed from generations or Z. Instead they were mainly Baby Boomers on a mission to build something beautiful and useful for their homes. Sears' cabinetmaking class is part of the Construction Technology offerings at Casper College.

And while most construction courses are designed to help start students on the path to careers in the building trades, some have also been discovered by do-it-yourselfers. Sears, who once built hardwood furniture commercially in Casper, said his cabinetmaking, woodworking and furniture-refinishing courses are particularly popular. "Some classes are geared towards do-it-yourselfers, especially the evening classes," Sears said. "The want to do it is all that's really required. If you have the machines and you know Clematis is a popular Wyoming landscape plant The climbing vine is hardy to Zone 4, and produces splendid flowers and foliage.

Clematis roots need a site that is neither too dry nor too wet Avoid planting in poorly drained soil, where it is too hot and dry, or where severe root competition exists. Most clematis varieties bloom best in full sunlight but still will flower well in partial shade. Arbors, fences, trellises and railings provide good support, but lower woody stems and new growth will need tying with string to prevent wind damage. Clematis should be fertilized and watered regularly during the growing season. Reduce feeding during the flowering period to prolong blooms but continue to water freeiy.

Tree tips Anyone with questions about tree care can contact anarboristwho has been certified by S. ZW the International Society of Arboriculture. For additional information on planting and other tree care topics, the society has a line of consumer-education brochures, which can be viewed at www.treesaregood.com. There's also more information at the society's main Web site, EicchsrsgQ of ideas It's June, it's getting hotter and lawns are demanding more and more water. See Willy Zimmer's blog "Inside and Out" for ways to help your lawn beat a hot, dry summer.

Here's a sample: "Here's another tip. Mild dish soap can be a pretty effective wetting agent. If you can't tolerate dry spots, spray some soap on with a hose feeder. It doesn't have to be a heavy application, just enough to cut down on the water's surface tension." BIPHT 1 lipll 71 if "IgnS vision v. i ilu ft is rr a 1 I i 1 1 Giotto.

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