Outdoor Living & Lifestyles - Cedar 5x5 post 13 FT.

I have a friend, a commercial electrician who gave me this nice cedar post I would like to put it in the ground and have about 9 ft sticking up so that I can put some bird roosting boxes, houses etc. on it should I stick it directly into the ground about 3 ft. or is there a better way as to have it last longer so it dosen't rot out at ground level after a few years? Thanks

Probably the best way I know of to secure it would be to first dig a 4' deep hole, and using a 8 or 10" sonotube (a waxed cardboard form), pour a cement pier. Backfill the hole around the sonotube with pea gravel. Place a large piece of galvanized angle iron into the wet cement with sides perhaps 3 1/2" x 3 1/2", and with a level make sure it is perfectly vertical (plumb). If the angle iron sticks into the cement about 3', and sticks up out of the cement by about 3' you can drill holes and bolt or lag through both sides of the angle iron and into the 5x5. It should be pretty secure, and you won't have to worry about it rotting.

If you'd like to keep it off the cement slightly, you might place a couple nuts underneath all 4 corners as spacers so that the bottom of the 5x5 can dry out after a rain. But cedar is pretty resistant to rot.

Thanks for the tips. Joe