Bury the pipes. I wish I could say the process of burying the pipes in the ground was precise and exact, but that is so not our style! We completely lucked out with the depth of the pipe. We were quite shocked when the poles all measured the same height in the end (actually they are about 1/2 inch off from each other, which is too small to detect with the eye — good enough for us!). Being that our deck is built on slanted ground, this was a major win. Also, I spray-painted the part of the pipe that is visible above ground after the fact, but didn't take a photo of it. Only one needed to be painted, as the other two are completely concealed by plants. About six inches of pipe sticks up out of the ground.
