How to Plant a Flagpole

Before you can fly the flag of your choice, you'll need to plant your flagpole into the ground. Unlike other posts such as fence posts, flagpoles aren't placed firectly into the ground, but are placed into a sleeve designed to fit with the flagpole. These sleeves have to be installed into the ground before flagpoles can be put into place. The sleeve offers the advantage of being able to remove the flagpole without having to dig it out.

• 1

  Find a spot to install your flagpole away from any underground or overhead utility lines.

• 2

  Use your posthole digger to create a hole three times the diameter of the pole and as deep as your flagpole sleeve. Use your shovel to ensure the bottom of the hole is slightly wider--by 1 or 2 inches--than the top.

• 3

  Add 2 inches of crushed stone to the bottom of the hole.

• 4

  Place the sleeve into the center of the hole. The top of the sleeve should be about 2 inches above the ground.

• 5

  Combine pre-mixed cement and water in your wheelbarrow according to instructions on the bag of cement. When the cement is just firm enough to mound on a shovel, place it around the flagpole sleeve. When the hole is about halfway filled, use your level to ensure the sleeve is still plumb and adjust as necessary. Check the level several times as you fill the hole with cement. When the cement reaches the top of the hole, slope it down from the sleeve to the outside of the hole so water will run away from the pole.

• 6

  Wait 24 to 48 hours, depending on heat and humidity in the area, for the cement to completely dry.

• 7

  Slide the flagpole up to the sleeve hole. Tilt the flagpole up and gently let it slide into the sleeve as it becomes upright. If the flagpole comes with a collar base, slide it over the flagpole before you place the flagpole into the sleeve.

• 8

  Place wood shims between the pole and the sleeve. Use your level to see if the flagpole is plumb and adjust the shims as necessary.

• 9

  Cut the shims off at the start of the sleeve. Fill the area between the flagpole and the sleeve with dry sand and tamp it down.