At some point you're going to chop down a tree, or your neighbour is, or your friend is, or the council is - and when you do, keep the logs!
A lot of people don't think about recycling logs, but we do. They make great tables for outside next to the garden benches, and they work as extra seating. When I first started keeping garden logs for tables I stained them with food colouring and then sealed them. Nowadays things are different. I don't use normal paint sealer, I use Waksol (you can get that from Builder's warehouse).
Waksol is the best sealant I've used on wood - and most importantly it's bee friendly! I researched high and low on what to use to seal my beehive, and Waksol was the answer! Waksol stains wood an orgeon pine colour, soaking deep into the wood to prevent rotting, and you only need reapply it every 2-3 years.
To stain wood naturally you can use the green outer husks of walnuts (just boil them in water, or soak them in alcohol, and you'll get a deep yellow/brown stain) - or you can go to the spice cupboard and grab the turmeric for a yellow stain. Mix into a paste with some oil, then make it runny with more oil (only use natural plant oils like canola or olive), and use that oil to seal and stain the wood - let it soak in for a week and then apply Waksol.