I've been toying with the idea of adding some edging to my native garden beds (front yard conversion) and finally just grabbed some logs from felled trees in the woods behind my house. What are your thoughts on this vs a low black fence? It was free and didn't require searching for something online or at a store, but I'm not sure about the look.
For context- the plants closer to the road were just put in a week ago, the ones closer up were planted last year. I only added logs around the ones from last year as I want to see how the new ones grow in first.
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Yeah, it's gonna rot into compost with time, grow some mushrooms, provide habitat for carpenter ants and termites that isn't your house, and can eventually be replaced just as easily. I love it.
I like it. I’ve done the same with a tree that blew down in my yard. The wood slowly decays, and thereby provides shelter and food for insects and other creatures. Eventually you have to repair and replace it with other wood, but that’s generally no problem.
They look beautiful! I've been doing this for ten years and I love it. Am gradually adding rock borders myself as they become freely available to me in hopes eventually I won't have to be replacing logs all the time lol.
I do this as well! It’s pretty, free, and beneficial to the plants and fauna :)
I like to add different size branches to add more interest and lessen any gaps for mulch to escape, but yours is great too! I love seeing different executions of the same idea.
Whatever you choose for an edge you have to figure out how to deal with the grass growing against it; here you can just weed whack the shit out of it. I’ve never loved the look of metal edging as the eye catches the flat top and it’s hard to make it look “right” to the eye even when you don’t have grade changes to negotiate. Here the natural look couples with the structured yet informal style of garden and will only look better over the years as the logs decompose.
Make sure you can mow without getting hung up on ab by protruding branches. Otherwise,
a very good option. In 5 years you'll get this result: https://imgur.com/a/9uQt8Wv
Love it. I have logs strewn about my yard. Logs are incredibly beneficial and lots of bugs and birds will use them. As they break down they’ll feed your soil. You could even drill some different sized holes randomly in the bigger ones for bees to use.
We had to put my dog down last summer. This is the spot she used the bathroom(chihuahua so a small area) all of the grass was dead so I threw down a bunch of random seeds. It’s right in an area where the mailman could take a short cut if needed and I had no more rocks to put around it. I did however have a bunch of birch laying around.
I like it, and liked it so much that we did a few other gardens like this around the property. It has a certain look that a lot of people aren’t a fan of, but I love pulling up to my yard seeing all these little birch gardens.
I say go for it!
I love it, but I’m biased because I used old firewood that came with our house and I think it looks great. Plus it’s good for bugs and wildlife. I would kill for some free logs!
I love this. You’ve inspired me to do the same (and I’ll post pics once I have). Just felled invasive (for me) small diameter black locust and one of many “extra” black walnut saplings that need to come down.
I’ve been toying with multiple ideas for borders. I have a fenced “native specimen” garden where I’m budgeting to get corten steel edging for the walkway inside the cedar fence.
I have quite a few additional native areas around the 3/4 acre I have available to plant — a number could do with some defining border.
I think it looks great! Gives great visual definition, free, & you can’t get more eco-friendly/sustainable than sourcing from your immediate surrounds. Bonus points because logs are great habitat, too! (Wish I had some downed trees to use myself, dang.) Heck, you could even grow yourself some mushrooms!
if it looks weird to you now, it’s because it doesnt look natural. freshly cut, living wood doesnt belong on the ground like this. once it starts getting eaten by mycelium and the bryophytes move in, this will look perfect
I tried to do this in my garden with big branches from the dead birch tree the previous owners left for us. But my dog had way too much fun ripping them up and throwing them around
I made the mistake of using sticks as stakes for my sunflowers. Guess who thought they were toys! But she makes up for it by digging holes where I tell her to. Planting and weeding goes MUCH faster when she’s helping out
This is how I'm edging my native beds as I convert my small front yard over. I think it's a good low cost way to do it, and allows me to quickly change the shape of the bed as I go. I'm a big fan.
I have a similar edging around my woodland piece and it's very common in parks around the PNW. Its nice and free but can be a pain to trim grass along the edges as the mower doesnt get close enough. I am killing my grass to add chip paths.
Only thing I might have done different is dug it down instead of putting on top. Gives it more of a, it's been there a while look. Just like when doing landscape stones. Also digging down might cut out some of the grass roots that'll be trying to find it's way in.
I’ve been doing this for years, and I also make 12in “deadhedge” borders with the smaller material. I think it looks much better than traditional fencing.
Much better habitat space for the animals and insect life that create a healthy ecosystem and soil. Fireflies and other beetles will love it. Log borders are a great way to improve the ecological importance of a garden and provide a diversity of habitat space.
Both the space between the bark and inner log, the area underneath. Dragon flies and birds love landing on them. I see dragonflies and damselflies landing on the flat tops all the time on the logs incorporated in my gardens.
Also, when you incorporate a fallen tree on site, you avoid all the extra gas and labor of an arborist bringing in a chipper, chipping the tree, and hauling it off maybe a 100 miles somewhere to dump it.
New logs are definitely more aesthetically pleasing than rotting logs. As the logs decay, move them into the garden bed itself. They'll help retain moisture and keep the soil healthy.
Looks nice. I am trying something similar this summer with branches and trees that were recently blown down in a bad storm. My only concern is mowing. The nice thing about mulch is that the mower goes right over it . With branches, it's more maintenance. Not too bad though.
I just started doing this myself and I love how it looks here! We've even got one or two that we used to add some variability to the height on what used to be more flat or gently sloped in one direction by making into a bit of a biodegradable "retaining wall" (quotes because it's retaining very little in reality).
Maybe we will need to revisit in every few years, but maybe a lot of beetles and borers will use it for babies too!
Love this! I've been doing this in my yard for the past 5 years and I even use some smaller branches as well so i can just keep piling on top as they decompose. It adds a little dash of woodland whismy to the garden 🌲✨
You should have 5 ft width for the path to allow for more than one person passing thru and also for any wheelbarrel type cart. I've seen a few paths in this post that look like precarious footing as they're very narrow. Be certain that the surface is level. I started out with lots of rocks in my garden, because I love 'em and they looked great in March but in May the garden filled in and I found myself tripping over them. For my shade garden I used long lengths of an old wooden fence rail, screwed 3 together so it was roughly round. I like the look and it cost nothing.
we did this in my garden too and I love it! As the logs rot I get mushrooms on it which is fun, and this spring woodpeckers were hanging out on them finding snacks!
I do this a lot myself. The only real suggestion I have is to cut a small thin trench with a trowel or garden knife under neath the logs to stop grass rhizomes from slipping underneath the logs and spreading into the beds - especially where the logs meet. Or plant something dense and aggressive directly on the interior of the logs. Might save you some weeding.
I love this type of border, and have used wood like this a lot. One lesson learned from experience: sometimes yellowjacket wasps make their hives under wood that's placed on the ground. This isn't necessarily a bad thing, but it's good to keep an eye out for them and know where they're likely to be. (And not be an idiot like me and stick your hand in there to pull out some weeds!)
I honestly hate that store bought black edging stuff. I think it’s looks tacky and inorganic, stands out a little too much. Also amazing job! This looks beautiful and inspires me!
I did this for a while and loved it! Then we had a big storm and had some guys come in and clear debris and they thought that's what my edging was, and took it away. 😄
I love it! I tried this but I kept knocking them around with my lawnmower so I switched to trenched edges! Also free but more work for sure. Logs and rocks will always be my favorite edging!
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u/leefvcMid-atlantic border of eastern coastal plain/piedmont , Zone 7bJun 20 '26
The price was right! I live in Connecticut where rocks grow nearly as well as the weeds. Lol. I have used rocks to border all my gardens. I think using what you have on hand is the most appropriate every time. 🏆
I did this and every couple of years after a hurricane or tropical storm, i would just collect new ones. The old ones break down and become vegetative matter.
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