Laurel

Laurels will grow in any good garden soil. They are grownboth as bushes and standards, and require but little attention beyond
watering. The standards are produced by choosing a young Portugal
plant and gradually removing the side-shoots on the lower part of the
stem, and when the desired height is reached a well-balanced head is
cultivated, any eyes that break out on the stem being rubbed off
with the thumb. Lauro Rotundifolia is beyond dispute the best of all
Laurels; it is of free growth and of dense habit, and its leaves are
roundish and of a lively green. (See also "Epigaea.") All Laurels
may be propagated by cuttings and by layers, the latter being the plan
usually adopted.