Help please! I feel so silly

[Rosemaryandlavender1]

I only got into gardening towards the end of last year. I already had an established large rosemary bush on one side and I wanted to add colour around it. So u planted a hydrangea on the left side and some Japanese anemone on the right which have since died. This year I have planted a rose shrub on the right side however, i haven't actually dug a bed. They have both just been planted with a hole dug in the grass. Should I try and dig a flower bed around it? How should i rectify this? Any advice please.

Yes, you need to dig out a decent area of grass around the new planting so it's not competing with the grass.

But, you also need to consider the conditions, so as rosemary is doing well that suggests you have fairly dry and nicely draining soil, which is the opposite of what something like a hydrangea would need. I'd consider creating a herb bed in the area with your lovely rosemary as a centrepiece.

Thank you. Do you think the rose is fine there? I might just plant another rose next to it with salvia and nepeta

I don't know anything about roses, sorry!

Nepeta will thrive there though.

Are you sure the Japanese anemone was actually dead? They are herbaceous perennials which means that all the top growth dies back to the ground in the autumn, and you get new growth coming up from the roots in the spring.

I have dug it out to put in a pot incase it survives

@Scampuss thank you for the advice. Digging out the grass was hard work but I think i have done an okayish job.

This is where I have reached so far. Wasn't anticipating it to be so difficult. All the you tube tutorials made it look so easy

You probably don't need to clear that much for one plant! But you have lots of space there to add some more planting.

Yes, I'm thinking to add some salvia and a few other plants for a cottage garden look.

Lovely, it will look great. Don't forget to water your new plants well until they're established.

As other have said, both hydrangeas and Japanese anemone are very thirsty, and don't particularly like full sun, and that ground looks really dry, any rain will run right off it. Always remember, " right plant, right place " Your soil needs nutrients, that's the reason you need a proper bed. In order for moisture to get to the roots you need to loosen the soil, feed the plant ( FB&B is fine and cheap ) water, and then mulch to maintain the moisture.TBH a nice mulched bed looks amazing. It takes time to learn everything, you're off to a great start, keep learning, and nurturing those plants you spent lots of money on X

Thank you, the hydrangea is on the otherside of the rosemary bush so in partial shade. I started digging up on that side too today, and I've ground was much softer and easier to dig up compared to the other dry side.
I will look into purchasing mulch, is there any that anyone can recommend?

Great news ! As it's a new bed I'd get some soil conditioner on there, its usually manure based ( a good one shouldn't smell :0) ) about £18 for 3 bags from any good garden centre. Water well first, and then regularly throughout summer. Get some nice edges on the bed and it will look fab.

That large hedge behind will have very established roots that suck a lot of water out of the ground there. Probably why rosemary is thriving, as they don't need much water. Keep watering the hydrangea, but if it struggles, you might want to consider something more Mediterranean there instead. Or a raised bed. Mulch is definitely your friend.

I have removed the turf around the hydrangea and will look into purchasing and mulching it this weekend. On closer inspection it seems to be doing OK, it was planted late last year so I don't know how well it will do till this summer.

Thank you all, you have all been incredibly helpful.

That rosemary looks like it's absolutely thriving 😊 Digging up turf like that is really hard work! Can I suggest you look into the no dig method of creating new beds to see if that appeals to you?

Thank you but I have dug it up now. I spent some time this morning weeding out the rest of the roots around the rose and hydrangea and fed both. Il wait for another two weeks to see how they both do before I decide if I need to change their location.

My queen of sweden rose I planted at the start of April got horrible orange fungus spots so I had to remove quite a few leaves. I'm hoping it does better with the advice you have all given.

How both sides are looking now. I'm now just going to mulch and wait and see. Gardening is alot of learning along the way!