Last year I moved into my new home, which we'd designed and built. It is near downtown Austin, Texas, where there are a lot of trees, so the only location in the yard for a garden was right in front of the house. Front yard gardens are not terribly uncommon in Austin, so it wasn't a big deal, but I wanted to make sure it was at least marginally attractive, so I had it built about 2.5' high out of stone with a leuder cap.

While coming up with the garden design, I had an idea that I could put PVC "sleeves" at regular intervals (in my case, every 2') inside of the stone and cap. This would allow me to slide a trellis down into and move/remove at will. It also would allow me to build a number of other modular items - an insertable/collapsible hoop house, for instance, for winter growing or as cover for our infrequent freezes.

We built a 4x12 - 4x8 "L" shaped garden at the corner of my lot where the exposure is best. I'm in my second season of gardening intensively in the space and I can say that it's been a great setup. The sleeves are working out great, and while I have yet to make the hoop house it's on the project list for this fall. The trellises are the typical electrical conduit with 90 degree elbows. I trellis my tomatoes and cucumbers, and did cantaloupe last year.

Here are some pictures of the sleeves, the overall garden, and some current production (June 2nd).

I am posting because if anyone is thinking about doing anything similar, I can assure you it's been a very convenient setup. I don't think the stone is necessary, you could bury sleeves in a footer if you'd like.