sweet gum balls to deter moles

Hey There, I'm new here Permies, and I have a question about some raised beds I'm setting up for this spring.
I have a large sweet gum tree, so of course I have tons of gum balls. I've found the gum balls don't really break down too well in compost so I've decided this year to use them in the construction of my raised beds.
What I've done is dug a trench along the outline of the beds (12'x4') the trench is about 4 inches wide and about a foot deep, and I've filled it up and packed it full of gum balls. I will be setting logs on top of the gum balls.
My question is will this work to help keep moles away? Do you think I'll have any issues with water filling up the trench? or would that be helpful?
also, I think I'll mulch my strawberry bed with gum balls
Any input would be helpful, Thanks

Welcome to Permies!

I'd be more worried about having a bunch of sweetgum seedlings popping up everywhere. It's not one of my favorite trees and if I had an excess of sweetgum balls, I would turn them into biochar balls.

As far as your trench filling up with water, that shouldn't be a problem; the whole idea of hugelkultur and adding organic matter is for it to get soaked every time it rains. And your trench will drain. Even trenches in my compacted Georgia clay drain -- well, maybe after a day or two.