Your weather sounds similar to mine. In winter, I have a cool garden with lots of lettuce, arugula, collards, chard, beets, carrots. Peas and favas. For winter herbs I have cilantro,dill and parsley. Then,I always have oregano, rosemary and mint if it survives the summer. I sometimes grow mint as an annual, replanting each fall. You can also start an asparagus bed and artichokes right now. Cardoons, if you like them. Strawberries, since your summers are likely quite hot. In the spring your warm stuff like eggplants, peppers,tomatoes,corn,okra and amaranth and melons can be planted. You may be able to find a vegetable planting calendar for your area by searching google. That is the most helpful resource for Arizona that I've found. If your summers get up to 115F like mine do you may be able to use an Arizona calendar for Maricopa county and just reverse the months for down under. For instructions on each type of plant, just google. Most extension agencies in the US have information papers online that you can read. I always do this when trying a new veggie. I just googled " planting corn" a week ago to refresh my memory.

Good advice. I would add that although the idea of plants around the base of a tree is very attractive, that is often one of the very most difficult places of all to plant. You have to contend with tree roots which get in the way, need to be protected from disturbance, and which will gobble up every bit of fertilizer and water they can get their roots on, leaving your smaller plants hungry and thirsty. I would advise you to dig one flower bed somewhere in your yard that gets at least full morning sun. Start out with a realistically manageable size, but dig it well and add plenty of amendments, any one or combination of these: chopped leaves, grass clippings (not ones with seed heads!), compost, manures from cows, horses, or chickens (well aged), soil conditioner, etc. The key is organic matter and plenty of it. When I am building a new bed in my red clay, I plan to use approximately 5 pounds of amendments to every square foot of garden space. This is an easy figure when I am buying bagged amendments. Bags are convenient and manageable but cost more. When I'm building a big project, I buy amendments by the truckload. The people at the yard can help you figure what you need. Once your bed is built and your soil is ready, plant. If you want the bed to look good year round, include a few shrubs, evergreens, if possible. Then do some research: read books on SOUTHERN gardens (The Southern Living Gardening Book is a must), and haunt the forums here. You will be able to find lots of ideas for plants. I am going to list some of my favorite perennials and annuals here in east central Mississippi for you. Have fun and good luck! Perennials: Amsonia taberaemontana Verbena, Snow Flurry Shasta Daisies Day Lilies Knockout, Homerun, and Drift Roses Hydrangea Paniculatas: Limelight especially Durantas: Variegated and Cuban Gold Tibouchinas Crinums (bulbs): repeat bloomers Mystic Spires Salvias Salvia farinacea, Victoria and Evolutiion Rain Lilies (Zephyranthes. bulbs) Rudbeckia Maximas Cupheas Helianthus Hibiscus, Crown Jewels Pink Muhly grass Purple Fountain Grasses (pennisetums) Annuals: Zinnias, both great (Elegans) and Small (Profusions and Zaharas) Vincas Pentas Celosias: This year I am trying a tall one called Cramer I can tell you that all of these perform extremely well here with minimal care. They all have a very long bloom season. But, the only way to know for sure what does well in your garden is to try! That's half the fun.

What several have already said about digging up the plants in fall, removing the weed fabric, and adding soil/amendments as needed ... after correcting the drainage issue if necessary. Did water pool there before? If so, might there be compacted soil or a clay hardpan? You'll have to break through this to improve drainage. Also, since you're adding soil on the other side of the walk, make sure you're not going to be directing water towards your house. Fall is actually the best time to plant. The air is cooler, the sun's rays weaker, putting less demand on the plants, but the soil is still warm, so encourages root growth. With very few exceptions, plants (whether annuals, perennials, shrubs, vines, trees ... whatever) should always be planted at the same depth at which they had been growing. Their roots have developed at the proper depth to provide the water, oxygen and nutrients the plant needs. Changing the soil level will, at best, stress the plant, at worst, kill it. (Tomatoes are one notable exception. Since they have an abundance of adventitious buds in their stems that will produce roots, you can bury a goodly portion of the stem when planting, to encourage a larger root system.)

I will just add to the good advice nancyjane and gardengal have given. The beds you have built sound ideal and the amendments are good. But gardengal really nailed the best approach. This is not a container; you are not creating a soil medium from scratch. What you need is dirt, i.e., what is already there in the beds. You just want to dig it up and add amendments and mix it all together. But the actual dirt is the most critical ingredient - it has all the minerals and biology. The rest of the stuff is just to add organic matter and improve on your native soil and also work some air into the soil. I usually go 60% dirt and 40% amendments by volume. Dig down 1 to 1.5 feet and break up the soil. Add the amendments and then turn it in, mixing it all up. This is hard, sweaty, work. I am now getting up there in years, so for this phase I usually recruit some neighbor high school kids that would like to make some extra money to do the heavy digging for me. The amendments and the air will raise the soil level up 4 to 6 inches. That is perfect, because your 10" sides will accommodate that plus a thick layer of mulch on top. (We are coming up to the fall season - be sure to save and shred all your leaves because they make the perfect winter mulch.) Once things are dug in, you can plant. Carrots, lettuce, spinach, kale and brassicas can be grown from seed for the fall. Don't feel obligated to plant the whole thing. Use a part of it, and then when you get some leaves, heavily mulch the whole raised bed. That mulch will start to decompose over the winter giving you free compost by the time you are ready to plant things like tomatoes and corn next year. Another option is to plant a cover crop in unused portions of the beds - like hairy vetch and rye grass. Those will survive the winter, then you can cut them down and add them to the soil about a month before you need to plant next season. So there is lots of good news here. You have built a great raised bed, you have some good amendments ready, and you are going to be able to plant right away. And you will be able to take some of the stuff you purchased back and get cash! It doesn't get any better than that.