I use a lot of “wild caught” driftwood in my tanks. Some pretty large pieces. I have never soaked mine... what I do is drill some holes through it at the bottom. Run some cable tied through the holes and run them through a flat piece of plastic (old UGF filter plates work well but you can also use egg crate or anything else). I then bury the plate in the substrate. Oftentimes I’ll have to add a bunch of rocks but within a few months the rocks can be moved and readjusted. I even have a really large one right now that I had to use a few bricks behind it to help hold down!!!
