Garden Boxes vs Direct in the ground

In an earlier post - I recommended garden boxes unless there was a compelling reason to not. I gardened for over 30 yrs directly in ground (flood irrigation was my source of water) and started boxes last year here in Utah.
How easy...absolutely NO reasons against it.
1. You control your 'soil' completely. Once you fill your box/s..the soil doesn't disappear into the ground. You control the composition ...you don't have to fight sand/clay/rocks/weeds/major roots from nearby trees etc.
2. NO more back bending work or kneeling. If you plan/design it correctly- make it a height where you can sit on a low stool to work. I don't recommend lower than 15 inches regardless. You need depth for the roots to travel where ever they want. All the books recommending 6" are doing a major disservice for gardeners here in Utah. Take those recommendations with a grain of salt. It may work elsewhere - you have crap for 'soil'. Where are the roots going to go if not into that crap....and then what have you gained?
3. Weeds and grasses don't end up invading your bed.
4. You can group your plants according to what their requirements may be. Those requiring more water than others can be grouped together. Herbs can go in their own locations.
5. Boxes can be made different sizes to go where the climatic conditions would be the most ideal for a grouping.
6. Will drain well...no water-logged roots.
7. You won't walk on the 'soil' compacting it severly.

I can probably find more reasons to have garden boxes vs directly planting in ground...but you get the gist. What I can't come up with is a reason to NOT go with boxes.

If you have been persuaded to go this route...the 1st step is to go figure out where and how big you want this to be. There is nothing written in stone. The only 'rule' is don't build anything with less depth than 15" here in Utah County. I probably wouldn't go less than that no matter where I build the next ones - anywhere in the country. It has been so easy to sit and be on the same level. Go check out what my garden looked like last year - only a month old.- (under the tab - Garden 2009)