I put my fence up in 1980. The East side of my yard is constantly wet, it is the low part of the yard, and at the drainage of about 7 acres. Being that it is the low part of the yard and on the alley, I chose to do a 6' fence on that side. I put salvaged 3/8" x 3 1/2" angle iron into holes that I had dug and that I had filled with concrete, and erected a 6' fence of fir 1x6's with a 3/8" gap between the fence boards. Two years ago, 32 years later I had no choice but to go back to fencing as the bottom of the posts, at the attachment points had become a hinge. When doing the repair I noticed that the posts had become 'punky' at the bottom, and that the cadmium plated fasteners had wasted where they were damp most of the time.

In the upper, West side of my yard, I erected a 4' fence of 1"X6"s , with a 4" gap. Being that the West side is the high side, and that that fence was lower I chose to put those posts into a hole with rocks at the bottom, for drainage, and a concrete perimeter at the top. Well, last year I had to replace my first post on that side of the yard. To my pleasant surprise I was able to extract to post in whole and place a new/recycled unit into its place without disrupting the supporting base.

This is important. cover the tops of your posts, keep them covered. Do not let them absorb water through the end grain.