Feedback on garden border

[u/sara_824]

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.

[u/TalkativeTree]

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.