I have moles, voles and groundhogs. I am doing raised beds lined with hardware wire. ;-)
I tried the upside down tomato thingy last year. Too much watering....and the price of our water just went up.
For me the watering came out of the end of a watering can, instead of a hose. This actually has me using less water overall than a bedded garden. Hauling the water at the time seemed like more....but it was really less.
It proved an interesting concept in the long run.