GREEN THUMB: Des Murphy wants to give the Bendigo Creek trail a makeover.
PLANS to put 100,000 new trees along the Bendigo Creek trail could be under way by the end of the year, if permits are approved.
Des Murphy, who has singlehandedly sourced seeds for the project, said he was hopeful of being granted approval by the City of Greater Bendigo to get the trees planted in September.
Mr Murphy said it had been a long journey to reach this point of the plan.
He said it was a dream of his to see more trees along the banks of the creek, from Lake Weeroona out to White Hills.
“I’ve been trying to get this done for 20 years,” he said.
“It’s a beautiful spot to walk and it would be great to have more trees along the creek bank.”
Mr Murphy said he was confident the community would support the idea and help him plant the trees.
“Hopefully some people come on board to become part of beautifying the Bendigo Creek for all to enjoy in their leisure hours,” he said.
“I want to promote it to get people to come and plant some of the trees themselves.”
Mr Murphy won a Pride of Australia medal for planting trees in White Hills 10 years ago.
The garden beds at Bendigo railway station are also the work of Mr Murphy’s green thumbs, after he spent $5000 of his own money restoring the garden.
He said that in recent years reeds have taken over the Bendigo Creek and it was due for a makeover.
The 100,000 seeds needed for the tree project have already been sourced and Mr Murphy said he would write to the council to seek approval to have them propagated in a nursery by June.