"Srgnt Billko" wrote in message
...

"I Love Lucy" wrote in message
ink.net...
What I have are six wrought iron candle stakes that I am going to use
in the yard near the front or side sidewalk where they will be very
visible for either tealights or little potted plants. I'm afraid
somebody will steal them (neighbor got some of his garden stuff
stolen a couple weeks ago).

I've been kicking around what to do for some time now while I worked
to clean them up, prime them and paint with rustoleum. I thought at
first to anchor them in concrete in a brick? Anchor them in concrete
in a cutoff pepsi bottle as a form? Etc. Then bury or "plant" them.

Now I have decided the easiest thing would be to cut the top off a
pepsi bottle part way, leaving about 6-8 inches (not sure about exact
amount), and drill? a hole in the bottom, stick the stake end through
the hole, clip it with something that can be removed but not while
it's underground, under the bottle, and bury that. Those bottoms are
tough and I can't cut into the bottom with my exacto knife.

What I need is some kind of clip that will grip underneath so if
somebody tries to pull them up, they will meet with resistance from
the weight of the dirt that will be filling the pepsi bottle. If I
don't clip them, the stake will just pull out of the hole in the
bottle and dirt.

With the latter method, I don't have to ruin my stakes by anchoring
them in concrete or something permanent. It will be a nuisance if I
want to move them or bring them in for the winter, but if it's not
one thing, it's another.

Maybe somebody has a better idea with pvc pipe or something I
wouldn't think of. Somebody suggested on another forum that I link
them all together with chains and bury all that, but that would be
really difficult for me, first the securing part of the chains and
secondly burying all that mess.

Bend a couple inches of the rod 90* - that will stop it from coming
through.

You mean on the bottom of the stakes? I can't do that without paying
someone to do it that has the right tools or equipment, plus I would
lose height. That will make it harder to push them in the ground like
they are designed in the first place; they have pointed ends. Thanks
though. As a last resort might try to do that.