You could make some real nice raised beds out of paver brick wall material. Its kinda pricey, but bet it would blend in real well.

I like it, provided that the aspect of the fence allows full sun and that you're aware of the need for additional water. Melons are deep-rooted plants; they'll know what to do. I'd recommend a 24" hill, though. Experiment! Misterbaby.

You could also offer the rock on freecycle or the free section of C's list. YOU HAUL-FREE landscape rock. Then you don't have to do the labor. NT

tracydr it may work depending on how you do it and what you plant. Dig a nice wide hole about 18" deep and amend it well. Our soil is rock hard and these plants like rich fluffy soil so a big hole is a must.

I could see this working with Bush type Squashes and Bush type Melons. I don't think squashes and melons that grow on long vines are for this setup unless you plan on mulching a massive area. Reason being; If those vines are out in the sun stretching out over rock in 110 degree in the shade heat I think they will struggle to survive.

There are some short vine melons and some Bush type Butternut squash and lots of Bush type Summer squash that should work though if you mulch around the plants well. With good sized holes I bet even tomatoes would work but as you know they need afternoon shade or filtered sun here.

Can you give me some bush type melon recommendations?

Half of my garden is exactly what you are proposing.

I have a foot deep gravel over clay too.
I auger out a 24" square about 2' deep and mix tons of compost in the hole, cut off the bottom of a trash can or large bucket and fill it up with more of the clay/compost/decomposed Granite and Pumice mixture, and VIOLA awesome veggies straight out of a gravel driveway.

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Tracy the melons on this list are not so much Bush type but they do have very shot vines compared to other melons. Generally in the 3-5' range. All of them are supposed to be some of the best tasting melons you can grow.

Minnesota Midget Cantaloupe (3' vines)
Bush Sugar Baby Watermelon (3.5' vines)
Yellow Doll Watermelon
Honey Bun Cantaloupe
Emerald Gem Spice Melon

My first thoughts was an auger but I see jon beat me too it.

Jon showed exactly what I was thinking. You might discover all that gravel is a blessing because it keeps the weeds down and gives you a nice path to walk on between your beds. My garden is similar, but we had to haul all that rock in (granted, that was after my beds were framed out, but work is work). You're just having to do it backwards, but I think in the end, you'll be happy with it!

Good luck!

Here is a link that might be useful: my blog

I think Jon's garden looks great, but I would be concerned about the heat in Az reflecting off all that stone and cooking the vines. I say go for it but be prepared to either loose some vines or take emergency burn-prevention measures in the heat of summer. I wonder if mulch is the only/best way to give the vines a cooler place to lay, perhaps there is a more cost effective method to insulate your plants.

I like Jon's garden too and always love his pictures. But tracydr lives in an extreme environment. Here during the growing season you can literally fry an egg on those rocks.

Every so often on Craigslist a tree trimming company posts that they will deliver 4-8 yards of mulch for free. On another forum I have read posts where people say they just called up local tree trimming companies until they find one who has mulch they can deliver. These companies have to pay to drop this stuff off at the dump so most are more than happy to drop it at your door if they are doing work near your house.

What Jon did. Concerns about the scorching heat could be addressed with a sun shade available through the greenhouse supply people. Misterbaby.

Wow, Jon, that's awesome! What is the wire for? I may have to rent, or even buy an auger, although that would be one more thing on the very, very long honey-do list. I had a fractured neck and fusion so no shaky machines for me! As far as heat, there is some shade, or, I have of shadier areas. I'm also considering mulching that whole area with wood chips because I have so many yard trimmings and the Bermuda is starting to grow through the rocks.
I just need hubby to run the chipper, he thinks I'm going to cut my arm off or something!
Now, I just have to figure out how I'm going to haul an enormous amount of beautiful, composted horse manure 15 miles with my FJ. My horses are poop machines, of course, and I dont have it mixed with shavings, my pile is rapidly expanding and needs to get used.
I think I'll start hauling home a couple of bushels full a day in those rubbermaid manure baskets and dumping them into my new raised beds that I'm getting, next week!

The screens are for moles/ground rodents/or whatever they may be.... that stops them cold....

Here is a video that shows the whole/hole process ;-)

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Here is a link that might be useful: Preparing a Planting Bed

Why not use the fence to grow squash and melons vertically instead of sprawling across valuable real estate??