iowariver

I think its a good idea to use cedar. I know of a place I can cut round posts from cedar trees that were removed from a dry bluff slope a few years ago to encourage rare native vegetation and left there. There should be plenty of opportunities to trim back dead branches to trunks that are 4-6 inches diameter. I'm putting in lightweight deer fencing or poultry wire that is 7 feet tall. Any suggestions as to how deep to dig the holes? That would affect how long I cut the trunks. Can't remember how deep we used to do it for wood fence posts. I'm also trying to figure out how far to space them. Any suggestions? Thanks everyone for taking the time to communicate.

My friend will be happy. Hope we can find virgin class 5 around here. Thanks to all.

A friend and me were discussing the best fill to put in a fence post hole for an 8' long 4"x4" or 6"x6" square post for fencing a garden. He says to use class 5 gravel. I say to use about 1/2 fine barn lime mixed with 1/2 soil from the augered hole. My argument is that the barn lime mixed with our sandy loam fertile soil would be more stable in a well drained soil where we get an average amount of rain, whereas the class five gravel would have air pockets and be somewhat loose. Also, I don't want any chemicals leaching into my garden from recycled materials used in class 5 gravel. We used my barn lime method (an old farmers' trick) on a 75 " long 8" high solid hardwood fence 4 years ago and have noticed no shift in the posts despite high winds and many torrential downpours. I placed the posts in about a 2 1/2' hole, did the mix, watered it and let it set for a few days. Neither of us want to use concrete mix. Too hard to chip out if need be. Your comments please. Thanks.