These take a good amount of work to setup. They do the best the second year after the layers have broken down some. But once going they're supposed to be pretty self sustaining if you plant perennials and self seeding plants. They can be put inside of raised planters, also, to keep them looking nicer and use like a traditional garden bed. You lose the planting space on the sides, though. You never know, maybe someone can help you get one setup now, then immediately plant, then this fall and next year you'll be pretty close to being on autopilot.