To add a different twist to the cherry laurel discussion: Cherry laurel (Prunus caroliniana), while native to parts of the southeast, is not native to the Atlanta area (nor, I believe, to Georgia at all). It is considered locally invasive to native plant communities here, its seeds being readily dispersed by all the birds that survive eating them. It can be fairly aggressive, crowding out native shrubs and shading out the herb layer, creating dense, monospecific thickets. If you have cherry laurel on your property, I recommend that you kill it with an appropriately applied herbicide, and replace it with one of the wonderful native shrubs and small trees, such as American holly (native type), that birds love. You would be doing a favor to our local natural systems by doing so. When you visit a nursery that specializes in native plants, go armed with a good field guide to make sure what you buy is native to the area in which you live. This is especially true when creating native plantings for birds, because they will often spread the seeds of what you plant far and wide. Mal Hodges (wearing my hat as Conservation Ecologist of The Nature Conservancy of Georgia) Riverdale, Clayton Co., Ga.