Hedge laying.

From this pic it seems that hedge laying is still maintained in parts of my village.

I did a bit of hedge laying when I was at college. It's a pretty fascinating skill (one that I am not very good at I must say) that is one of those old trades, like dry stone walling. Certain branches and small trees are cut at an angle, and then bent over and woven through other branches.
The finished result is an entirely 'woven' hedge. Quite impressive.

To the left of the pic, you can see the angled cuts where the branches have been cut and then 'laid'. This isn't a very big, well developed hedge, so hasn't quite achieved the desired woven effect.
Hopefully though you can see how it's kinda meant to be.