I decided to start by trying to achieve a consistent height above ground and used that to determine how far to dig. I wanted 3 feet above ground, which left about 28" of post to bury. I dug the holes by hand (not an easy task). Then I tamped them down to help with the settling process. After positioning and hammering everything together, it was time to refill the hole...I just used the original dirt. I stepped on it, filled more and finished with another tamping. I'm hoping that will give us a good first winter experience. It looks great and holds it's place very well. We'll be putting in the rails in the back yard next. Since we have everything roped and marked, I'm going to rent a power auger for the holes to speed up the process. Next year, we'll pull some sod by these areas and begin inserting plants. The front yard already contains a Rose of Sharon Hibiscus. The fence was designed to just hold in the hibiscus' radius. Good luck with your fence Brent!

Slippery, At this point I see only adults using the deck. We also have a screened porch which will be the actual hang out place with seating and tables etc. The deck will be used for grilling and chilling by adults while grilling. Below the deck is gravel which extends about 5 feet beyond the deck. I like the idea of planters and benches at the edge but the deck is 30 ft. long. That many benches and planters could be expensive. Thanks for the advice... Art

I used a drill press to cut plugs from scraps of the wood (garapa in my case).

Cedar is a warm contrast to the cool gray. I like it! Our deck rails on the gray pool deck are black wrought iron.