Newbee, help with my garden

Hello everyone, I just registered and I have some questions. I live in Arizona and I like to have a garden, right now I am still planing and would like your opinion on some issues.

I am trying to decide what kind of garden to have and I saw the raised gardens where you put the soil inside a wooden box and plant your plants in it.
I like to know what your experiences have been with that kind of gardens here in Az. I read that they get dried faster than in-ground gardens and that they get hotter since they lack the ground insulation. Is this a problem in this area?
I have also seen the self watering containers, the ones with a water compartment on the bottom. How well do those work? anyone has any experience with them?

Also, for location of my garden, my back yard forms a "U" around the house, the two sides are about 8-10ft wide, and they are east to west. When we first moved in there we had a landscaper come over to design the front yard and I mentioned I wanted a garden. She said the west side of the house would be ideal for it.

My concern is that the area is in between the house and the 6' brick fence, I am not sure how much sun it gets, but it would be convinient since I have a water hook up there and it would be out of the way and can put a fence so my dogs don't dig my garden. But I realize all this does'nt mean a thing if I can get the plants to grow and be fruitfull.

What do you guys think?