Fence Posts - Bit worried!

Hi
New to this forum (and gardening projects in general), thanks for reading.
We have a smallish garden on a slope and decided that retaining walls made of fence posts would be a good idea to enable us to have an area of flat lawn. We bought some 5ft 6 tanalised fence posts but some needed a foot cutting off the top of them to make them an appropriate size. Problem was that the guys have done the cutting on the wettest day of the year before I had a chance to put any wood protector over their unprotected tops. They are in the ground now so I can't do much about them.
Is this going to ruin the posts? Do I hope we have a dry spell and coat the top of the posts with wood protector or am I too late? Bit worried this maybe an expensive mistake!
Any comments welcome, thanks

 

Not quite sure what you are actually doing with the posts.
Most fence posts are pressure treated so the fact they have been cut down shouldn't be a big problem.
If the cut ends are visible you could give them some treatment.
But bear in mind, a lot of what you can buy these days is mostly decorative, ie just a water based stain, the effectiveness as a preservative is pretty short lived.

 

Tanalised timber is only protected against insect attack. Before putting them in the ground they really should have been painted with rot proofing paint. Sorry.
They should last a good few years as they are though. We have some which have been in for nearly 20 years which are only just beginning to show signs of needing replacing.

 

Rubberised paint on the bottom before burying them next time.
Get some post caps for the tops as well to keep them from rotting away.
Any decent diy store will have them.

 

When they pressere treated the treatment doesn't go right into the centre, I soak any post in creosote and engine oil(new oil mixed with creosote) well before i put into the ground

 

It sounds from post#1 that the cut ends are at the tops, not underground. Most timber fencing has a moisture content that's too high to immediately give it additional preservative treatment, best left awhile until there's been a dry spell. I also stand posts upright for several days in a bucket of creosote if ends are being buried.

 

Try painting them with a few coats of clear wood preserver, which is what the joiner who made my new gates did. You can get coloured but I wanted clear.