Jeremy.
Great Question! (For me, anyway!)
You see, I am PATHOLOGICALLY entranced by material 'junctions', 'borders' and 'abutments'.
How materials, treatments, colours, textures and so on actually merge is, for me, the absolute crux of Design, with a capital 'D'.
I spend the vast majority of my 'visual life' looking at how 'one thing becomes another'. Where the earth meets the sky, the water meets the land, the long grass meets the short is where magic happens. How those 'fringes' are treated is the difference between good design and thoughtless mechanical drivel.
Case in point:
Is an Augusta 'blend', better or worse than a CPC 'blend'? As far as I am concerned, there's no comparison.
As to your ACTUAL question: I love it when a Green fringe is 'part of the green', allowing for a choice of putter, chip, bladed wedge or 3-wood depending on the lie. So, count me in on the fringe-as-greensmix gang!
FBD.