handrail anchored to "grass?"

Hi. I'm having a pool installed soon and we will not be doing any patio around the pool for at least the first year. Coping will be put in (not decided yet). My question is, can I anchor the stair handrail to the grass? I was thinking of using a 5 gallon spackle bucket burried in the ground and have the rail attach to the collar that I'd set in the concrete. Has anyone tried this or tried a different, better solution. I really want to keep all grass around the pool so waiting till next year is likely not a solution for me. Thanks for the advice. It will be a 16x32 rectangle pool with roman ends.