05-07-2025
B.C. couple names bush ‘The Dude' after carving faces into it
John and Tracy Ferreira stand with the happy side of "The Dude." (CTV News)
Every time she backed up her car to leave her driveway, Tracy Ferreira's view of the oncoming traffic was blocked by the bush.
'It was a bit of a challenge, safety-wise,' Tracy says.
But Tracy didn't want to cut the bush down, so her husband John wondered if the best work-around would be to cut a window through it.
'So I made a couple holes,' John says.
Which proved to be a whole lot of help for Tracy.
'It's brilliant!' Tracy says, showing how she can see through the bush.
'It's so much easier to get out of the driveway.'
And that would have been that, until a friend mentioned the hole in the bush looked like a mouth.
'So I made a face,' John says.
He cut two smaller holes above the mouth to make a pair of eyes, before pruning the sides of face and leaving the top to grow wild like hair.
Finally, he named it The Dude. But despite John's best efforts, The Dude seemed to be somewhat dour.
'I thought it was great. But it was a little too grumpy for me,' Tracy says, showing how the mouth looked like it was frowning. '(I said) 'You've got to do one on the other side that's happy.'
So John cut two more eyes on the other side of the bush, and adjusted the mouth to make it smile. The happy Dude not only inspired passing people to share appreciative comments, they left presents too.
'They stopped and left a beer there for me saying thank you,' John says, adding that kids ask to cycle past The Dude with their parents and the residents of a nearby retirement home would make regular bus trips to visit it.
'For Christmas, someone left a card that said thank you.'
Every season, Tracy and John find a way to make The Dude even more dynamic.
'For Halloween, I have a mannequin I stuff in it's mouth,' John smiles.
While the grumpy side of the bush can get ghoulish, the smiling side is happy to sport bunny ears and buck teeth for Easter and wear a massive hand-made Santa hat for Christmas.
But when it comes to celebrating our country, there's a consensus that both sides fly Canadian flags attached to hockey sticks.
'In today's world, we need to do happy stuff,' John smiles.
Which is why John has expanded his positive pruning to include a second bush along the driveway featuring half a dozen happy faces that he calls The Little Dudes. Tracy calls it The Kids, because like real children, they can't get enough of Christmas and wear mini Santa hats.
'A little bit of effort can bring a whole lot of joy,' Tracy says. 'So why not take the time?'
