Firstly, make sure you have good quality pruning shears that are well maintained – kept sharp, lubricated, cleaned and disinfected. If the branches are too big, use some heavy duty loppers or a saw.
PRUNING FUCHSIAS
Seasoned gardeners will tell you that the time to prune your fuchsias (and your roses) are the months with a "J" in them, i.e. January, June and July. Those old gardeners are quite correct, but to me this is a flexible guide and should be adapted to the area you live in and also the seasonal changes, taking into account global warming effects on the temperatures, particularly now with our recent warm spell.
So what happens in January? Your fuchsias, if you've cared for them properly, should have flowered from the end of September to December. By January they may be getting a bit leggy with a few flowers at the ends. It is time for a HALF prune to promote a second flush of flowers. How much to cut back? The plant will tell you where to cut back to. Oh yes, plants can communicate!! We just don't listen to them. Prune back the branches by about 30% to a new shoot. These shoots are just waiting to grow and flower. As soon as you remove the ends of the branches, the energy will be redirected to these young shoots. With a boost of feeding these young shoots will provide you with a second flush of flowers until at least Autumn. It is always good to remind ourselves that fuchsias flower on new growth. So promoting new, healthy growth on your plants is the aim.
Lets now get to the main prune (June and July). Why do fuchsias (like many other plants) need a winter pruning? There are a number of reasons, viz :
1. to remove dead and diseased growth,
2. to remove weak branches,
3. to shape the plant,
4. to promote strong growth, and
5. to promote flowering.
Your winter pruning could start as early as May or as late as the end of July to August, depending on how cold the Winter is in your area. Pruning in May will give you a chance of earlier flowering, but also the possibility of Uncle Jack Frost damaging those young shoots! Come on, be daring, prune in May and have a beautiful display in early Spring!
So how to prune? I like to take a good look at a plant and see which branches are the strong ones and those that are weak or dead. Using sharpened and disinfected pruning shears, remove all the dead and weak branches. The next step is to cut back the sturdy, next season's branches by ½ to ⅔'s. Cut just above a node, about 10mm, with a clean slightly angled cut. It is best to prune last season's growth to about 2 nodes above the old growth. Pruning into the old wood may cause that particular branch to die back. Remove any remaining leaves that may be harbouring any bugs or diseases.
Garden plants should now be given a good watering. Next add a 25cm layer of compost around the base, two handfuls of mature chicken manure and then cover with a layer of mulch, eg coarse pine bark, hay etc. Then give a good watering again. This gives the roots constant, slow-release nutrition, keeps them warm in Winter and cool in Summer. It is not necessary to loosen the soil around the plants as the worms will do this for you as they feed off the organic material. In addition, the mulch will give a good control over weed growth.
For those plants in pots, hold the pot on its side and scrape off some of the top of the potting mix. Take care not to damage those fragile surface feeder roots. Now top-dress with a mixture of potting mix, compost and chicken manure (proportion 4:4:2). Water, but take care not to over-water at this stage.
If nature works with you, the new growth will start to show in about 2 – 3 weeks time.
ROOT PRUNING
It is good practice to check the root health of potted plants at pruning time. Place your hand on top of the pot and turn it upside down. Firmly tap the pot on the edge of a table and it should pop off. You can now examine the root system.
If all looks in good shape and some healthy white roots are visible, replace into the same pot.
If there are a great number of matted roots, and particularly if they are circling the pot – it is time to root prune. Remove the old roots at the base, but leave the root ball beneath and around the main stem intact. Re-pot into a new pot with a mixture of compost and potting mix.
Take care after root pruning and re-potting, not to over-water or fertilise the plant. At this stage there are no leaves to make use of the fertiliser and the plant may die as a result.
My experience is that it is best to let the roots be. We have plants that have been in 25 cm pots for over 15 years without root pruning and are still perfectly healthy.
Let your motto be "If in doubt, prune – but not the roots".
PRUNING ROSES
Reading Ludwig Rose's recent newsletter on pruning, I found these wise words to share with you :
"Roses do not need to be pruned! Rose pruning is EASY! You cannot prune a rose incorrectly! The best pruning time is the second half of July. However, the rose will still perform well if it is done in June or end August! Sealing of cut wounds after pruning is not necessary! Spraying with Lime Sulphur after pruning is not necessary!"
Taking heed of these words from a seasoned rose grower, use the above fuchsia pruning guide to prune your roses.
GENERAL
Fresh stocks of compost, chicken manure and bark mulch have arrived for those of you who would like to compost mulch as recommended. Remember what you put into the garden, will give you loads in return.
Acquiring a powerful garden shredder will be of great help to chop up all that pruning material. This will save you numerous trips to the dump and also provide loads of composting material.
News supplied by Tanglewood Nursery in Hilton.
Thandanani is another local lady who has made is as a Miss Earth South Africa KZN finalist! Thandanani recently completed her studies at Cedara college and the photgraph here was taken by Erika Whitby Photography. Erika said, 'Thandanani also played touch rugby for Cedara and she is a delight, I realy enjoyed doing her photos.'
The juniors at Hilton Pre-Primary visited the Botanical Gardens in Pietermaritzburg this week where they had fun playing with the fallen autumn leaves.
Would you like to know:
The KZN Inter-Schools' Squash Tournament, hosted at Epworth and St John's, took place on 9/10/11 May. The A Section provided some very exciting squash especially between Epworth, who have won this particular tournament since 1986, and a hungry St Anne's side. St Anne's clinched the matches at 4, 5 and 6, but lost at 1 and 2, and eventually won the tie 15/11. This means that for the first time St Anne's Diocesan College has qualified to take part in the Top Schools' Squash Tournament, which will be held in Pietermaritzburg in July. A jubilant St Anne's team, consisting of Ana Chemaly, Jessica Britton, Bridgette Mennie, Harriet Matthews and Nolene van Zyl look forward to taking on the challenge from the winners of the other provincial inter-schools' tournaments at the Top Schools' Tournament.
Stylish, effective, efficient and delightful!
Pictured are some of Grace College's "Born Free Generation" voters, excited to be part of the first group of people born after apartheid ended to cast their first National vote: Tyron Shaw, Jocelyn Perry, Jack Perrett, Gabi Krüger and Kenzley Abrahams.
Dawn Fallet of 
A mounted patrol project started in Winterskloof Hilton last Monday, pictured here is Steve riding BeeGee. Together they will be patrolling the streets of Winterskloof on a daily basis adding an extra pair of eyes to crime prevention in our community.
On Friday the 16th May Laddsworth Primary School participated in an inter-schools cross country meeting at Cordwalles Preparatory School where two Laddsworth Open girls achieved outstanding results. Leah Kriel broke the record with the new time of 14min 16sec and Emily Anders tied the record with a time of 15min 01sec. The previous record of 14min 32sec was set by Lauren Knobel, also from Laddsworth, in 2012.
The 
Tuesday and Thursday were relatively quiet days at the club, with fewer players than usual. On Saturday we filled six rinks, and played for avocado pears provided by John Fowler. As often happens, John's team won the prize. Thanks for your encouragement to our members, John.
Mountain Biking has been a popular sport at Grace College and has seen some brilliant riders coming through the ranks. The school is proud to announce that Velo Life, a well-known cycling company with a passion to coach mountain bike riders, has come on board to assist with the assessment and training of the aspiring Grace College mountain bikers. Johann Wykerd, a coach at Velo Life and very accomplished rider himself, and SA mountain biking athletes, Candice Neethling and Carla Van Huyssteen, have taken the task upon themselves to take Grace College Mountain Biking to the next level. It's a vital association and the school thanks them for their time invested in the sport.
Another week of beautiful April weather saw many members out on the green. Friday's IF Tournament was won by Derick Hull, John Aubrey and Rob Tosen. Runners-up were Tom Hartley, Rina Tainton and John Arnott. Well played to all, and our sincere thanks to Investment Facilitators for their continued generous sponsorship.
Please can I invite you and your extended friends and family to join myself and Brian Jones from SA CAN at one of the last 2 public meetings we are having?