standing block stability

["George Graham" <georgergraham@zzzzzzzzzzz>]

Hi Norman,
I would never put an eight'tall x2 by 2 stone on bare dirt. It's too tall,
and needs to be stabilized.
A concrete foundation, 4x4x 3 feet deep with a  1" pin that is 2 feet into
the foundation is a standard , safe installation.
Doing a temporary installation will make you get a little creative. The
first idea that comes to mind is to have about 2 feet of stone in the
ground, and pack the dirt around the sides. This means  you would need a ten
foot tall stone to start with!
Taking it a step farther, I'd consider digging a hole 4' x 4'x 3'deep. fill
in the bottom with crusher run gravel, and compact and tamp until you have a
level pad, 12" deep. Put your stone in the hole and fill in around the stone
with the crusher run gravel, 6 inches at a time. Tamp it down good and
tight. Keep going up 6 inches at a time.
Crusher run gravel is just unwashed , crushed stone. All the different sized
particles lock together to form a really strong structure when its compacted
together. You could get for example, 3\4" crusher run that has nothing
bigger then 3\4" stone.
Washed gravel is what you would get if you bought a bag of decorative gravel
to spread around your flowers. It doesn't lock together, but stays loose.
I don't have any kind of formula, but  am going with my experience .
Congratulations on a very good postcard!

George Graham