The difference is, when I step out my sliding glass door, I'm on a lower deck that is about five steps from the upper deck where the containers will be. I doubt your garden is right there in your face when you step out. Also, the glass must be 14 ft. long across the living area, so the garden area is plenty visible from the living area all the time. If the deck was junky, it would really bother me having to look at it all the time.
Most of the people living in these townhouses have a smaller back area than I do and they have filled it with rocks with absolutely nothing real growing. They don't have a deck unless they built it. They do have a piece of concrete slab for a small patio and I do mean small.
Whoever owned this townhouse before me, put in that lower deck over the piece of flat concrete and built a step up large deck, still leaving raw ground beyond that deck. I'm lucky they didn't eliminate the raw ground part. I say this to illustrate no one in these 61 townhomes is growing any food. Kroger grocery is across the street and down about a block. That is their food.
I'm very, very happy with using the clear plastic to prep an area for gardening. In direct sun, the temps get over 140F. That will kill weed seeds as well as the plants themselves.
I look forward to measuring the ground temp in the middle of August.
/johnny