I give this Bay (Laurus nobilis) a severe haircut every spring. 

 Left to its own devices L. nobilis becomes a voluminous and rather shaggy tree. The one at the end of the garden is of a similar age but I have pruned it only lightly over the years.

 Bay is amenable to a bit of topiary. It can be maintained as a small but shapely shrub in a pot if needs be. I didn't plant either of these and probably would not have planted one right next to the apple tree as is the case here. If I didn't shear it every year it would have subsumed and shaded out the apple by now. Even so it's getting too large for that location. I might go hard into it next spring though it would look fairly stark for a year or two.

 NB that Ivy growing up the back of the houses beyond could do with a haircut too. Much as I like Ivy I wouldn't want it reaching the roof tiles and round the chimney pots.

 All those clippings were certainly aromatic and made for a good mulch around the Acanthus mollis underneath. A Bay leaf or two in a stew is very nice but that's a few thousand more than I need for culinary purposes.