Hedgerows are as British as fish and chips. Without these walls of woody plants cross-stitching the countryside into a harmonious quilt of pastures and crop fields, the landscape wouldn"t be the same. Over the centuries, numerous hedges were planted to keep in grazing livestock, and some of today"s are as historic as many old churches, dating back as far as 800 years. Today, Britain boasts about 700,000 km (435,000 miles) of them, a length that surpasses that of its roads.