The Past Perfect Tense and "Within"

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Lesson Fourteen (14) – John the Gardener

John loved gardening – ever since he was a child. He was always planting something here, something there and something everywhere. John was only nine years old, but he was skilled at handling the spade, hoe and a soil tiller. For his birthday, John’s father bought him a box of seeds. John could not have received a better gift. His mother gave him a box of gardening gloves. John was equally excited about this gift. That year, John created a vegetable garden in his backyard. He used a fork to loosen the soil. He used a spade to create drains between the garden beds, and he used boards to box-off the garden beds. Within a few months, John had created a thriving garden that produced tons of juicy vegetables.

The above is an extract from a book I’m writing to teach English to Brazilians. The issue I’m having is with the last line:

Within a few months, John had created a thriving garden that produced tons of juicy vegetables.

I used the past perfect tense “had created” because it sounds right to my ears. However, upon carefully scrutiny, I’m tempted to believe that the simple past is correct in this context. That is:

Within a few months, John created a thriving garden that produced tons of juicy vegetables.

The past perfect tense, as we know, is used to describe an action which took place prior to the time in which the story is set or prior to another action in the same sentence. It can also describe an action that was “perfected” at a specified time. Examples:

By the end of last year, I had completed the entire course.

In the above example, the past perfect tense is justified because it describes an action that was “perfected” before the year ended. That is, the action was done at an unspecified time “before the end of the year.”

We can also say: