Moments

Home Maintenance and Greenery parent-child workshop

The SHKP Club recently held a Home Maintenance and Greenery parent-child workshop with SHKP Construction Department Purchasing Director Ricky Fung talking about maintenance of wood floors and marble. A professional horticultural team also came in to show how to create miniature bonsai. All great tips for a better life.

(I) Tips on wood floor care

Care for your floor every day

Laminated flooring is common in flats. Take some simple steps every day to keep the floor durable and looking good:

  • Remove leather shoes and high heels before entering to avoid denting or scratching the floor.

  • Move furniture either with a piece of carpet protecting the floor or lift it completely. Do not drag furniture across an unprotected floor.

  • Use protective pads underneath furniture legs.

  • Put protective plastic beneath furniture with wheels to minimize damage.

  • Trim your pet’s claws regularly.

  • Remove dust from the floor and wipe it with a damp cloth or mop, and make sure that the room is well ventilated during the process so that excess humidity doesn’t get the floor mouldy or warped.

  • Clean up spills with a dry cloth as soon as possible, so stains don’t get into gaps in the floor.

(II) Tips on marble care
  • Don’t use acidic or alkali cleaners (like bleach and chlorine water) on marble.

  • Clean stains with a cloth and water.

  • Use water-base impregnator regularly to maintain the marble surface.

  • Hire a marble care expert to polish surfaces or give them a facelift.

(III) Green your home with a unique mini garden

It’s said that a green home helps relieve stress because looking at plants soothes the eye and fragrant varieties freshen up the air. This makes miniature bonsai perfect for the home or office, given the small space they take up and relatively little care needed.

Plant types Examples Requirements Tools Decoration
Broad-leaf Nerve plants (white / red) Temperature: 20-30°C
Light: exposure all day
Water: porous soil that drains well and not too much water
  1. pot
  2. stone or clay granules
  3. glue gun and glue
  4. soil
  5. small tweezers
  6. plastic spoon
  7. plastic table sheet
  8. three plants
2 or 3 small figurines
and coloured sand
Succulent graptoveria titubans, haworthia cymbiformis, euphorbia enopla, plectranthus hadiensis and pachyphytum compactum Temperature: 20-30°C
Light: expose all day but avoid too much sun – plants wilt without enough light
Water: every 10-14 days or when soil is dry – water less in winter;
can stand dry and cold but suffer in stuffy humidity

How to make

  1. Put a thin layer of stone in the pot

  2. Add soil

  3. Decide preferred positioning of plants

  4. Trim roots

  5. Set plants in soil

  6. Add more soil and compress by hand or with tools

  7. Add coloured sand

  8. Cover the whole surface with sand

  9. That’s the basic landscape

  10. Decorate

  11. Use tweezers for smaller decorations

  12. Finished

Tips on plant care

Many people like having plants at home because they are soothing to look at and help reduce stress. Here are three things to note if you want healthy plants at home:

  • Give plants good ventilation and light, but avoid giving them direct sunlight.

  • Succulents and tropical plants need different watering. Determine a watering schedule based on the type of plant.

  • Trim plants if they get too tall or have dead leaves.