Help with planting for this raised bed

[AmIteallythatstupid]

Hi
I'm a novice gardener who is now the proud owner of a relatively large garden. We had the majority of it hard landscaped at the beginning of the year. As it was a very mature (overgrown) garden we were able to save lots of established trees/shrubs and i have planted / grown lots to add colour etc this year with differing levels of success 😂....especially as lots of perennials have grown through that I didn't know were there. Anyway i digress....
I have a raised bed that i have now realised has extremely dry soil due to a very large tree in the neighbouring garden and lack of access to rain fall. So i made a mistake of planting hydrangeas along it (my thought process was it was shady) however its far too dry and whats worse is in the height of summer it gets a cple of hours in the afternoon of very hot scorching sun.

So hydrangeas are about to be moved. I'm now looking for something to replace it.....i like the idea of grasses or something modern. I have been researching ideas but does anyone have any suggestions for something that like dry soil, happy under larger shrubs but can also take a blast of hot sun ☀️

My initial thoughts would be to look at Mediterranean plants. Many of those cope with very dry conditions.

Your new garden looks gorgeous! I'm very jealous of your hard landscaping.
Agree that Mediterranean is the way to go - think lavender, and herbs like rosemary and thyme.

Thank you 🙏🏼

I have a part of my garden in dry shade for a lot of the day. It has rosemary and some salvias. I also have oxeye daisies which seem to grow anywhere.
In sunnier spots but terrible soil I have California poppies, foxgloves and alyssum. Snapdragons seem to be okay if they'll establish.
You could see if something like an olive might grow - but I am not sure how much sun they need.
Lavender grows well in sunny dry soil as do many herbs.

Get hold of The Dry Garden by Beth Chatto, she made the most amazing garden extension on her old gravel car park , it looks fantastic all year. If you can’t get the book then have a look at her site, you can filter recommendations for plants according to conditions so will give you a good idea of what works.

Perhaps a mini gravel garden? Have a look on the RHS website at gravel gardens ideas - lots of suggestions there for how to set it up and planting ideas.