Jeff Ridgway and another volunteer helped trim the Ivy that was hanging down from properties located on Radcliffe, which had made passage on the sidewalk for students and residents difficult.
As reported earlier in Circling the News, the ivy that had grown down from Radcliffe residences above Temescal Canyon Road made it impossible for residents and high school students to walk along the sidewalk without getting hit in the face.
Resident Jeff Ridgway, with help from another volunteer, stood on the sidewalk and cut all the ivy they could reach, then placed it in four available plastic bags before calling 311 and asking the City to pick it up. A lot of ivy remained in piles.
When the bags and piles of ivy remained uncollected, a resident complained to CTN about the situation. CTN suggested that the resident could either call 311 and request the City come out, or bag the vines and take them to his own green bin.
On September 13, CTN received the following letter from Ridgway:
Hi Sue,
I wanted you to know the debris piles from the street along the Temescal Canyon Mural have been removed, as promised. I bagged it all up yesterday (Sunday) and took 12 bags (8 new and 4 of my previous) to the dumpster at my apartment building.
There is still more clean-up possible, but WOW what a difference it made having the ivy cut and the grassy growth, along the bottom of the wall, mostly removed (including the poison oak). It is much easier to traverse the sidewalk now.
I will try to go back and sweep off the sidewalk and clear the gutter a bit more this week. I will send a photo or two.
The damage to the mural by the ivy is readily apparent and I believe the entire Temescal mural needs a second round of conservation. The last was about 10 years ago.
I hope the Historical Society will join with the Temescal Canyon Association to organize such a project for this community treasure as part of next year’s Centennial celebration. That would be great!
(Editor’s note: Stop by Collections on Antioch on Thursday or Saturday, where Jeff Ridgway works, and give him your special thanks for making this a better community. But try to resist asking him to come and remove ivy at your house!)
It would be nice if the people in the houses with the hanging plants could help out with this. And thank you to Mr. Ridgeway for his work! It’s great to see that mural again.
The homeowners whose ivy is covering the lovely mural are responsible for maintaining their property ie cutting back their ivy. They should do so immediately.