Thank you all for the suggestions. I had not thought of removing the old compost. I've just been breaking it up before I watered.
Kyla ... I probably won't add manure to any beds until after the temps drop. There is a lot of salt in them and that can stress any plant in triple digit temps, also I don't want to encourage any new growth right now.
I usually use leaves that I go out and gather and bring home and shred for my mulch, but I've found that during the drought, the leaf mulch dries up way too quickly and does not perform the function of holding moisture in the soil, so I've been using wood chips gleaned from the base of the utility company's chipping pile for mulch last year and this year because the chips are larger particles and don't dry out and disappear during the heat and do hold moisture in the soil. In non-drought years, the leaves are my first choice.
I made the mistake of using the compost in this bed because I had just gotten tired of hauling wood chips and got lazy.
The wood chips I haul home are already partially decomposed, you can see the fungus threads in them, and I don't think they are robbing the soil of any nutrients as they continue to decompose.
I have several bags of leaves I've already gathered and can mix them with wood chips and put over that bed as mulch after I've removed the compost stuff. I have been saving the leaves to put down over the wood chips in fall.
Don't laugh too loudly, but I had two bags of the compost stuff left over and I have been using it under the base of my river rock borders as a weed/grass deterrent up on the house pad. It's actually working ! I can take the stuff I take out of this rose bed and use it under more of the border rocks.
I think the roses survived my mistake last year because they are budded and their root system, Dr. Huey, extends under the small lawn above that tier. Mrs. J had them planted in a tier that was only eight inches wide. There is no way she could have deep watered the roses. I widened the tier to three feet, but I still think their roots are in the lawn above, so in spite of my mistake, they got watered well when I watered the lawn.
Thank you for the good thoughts about my getting rain, but even in normal years, there is no rain during the summer months in my climate. That's why the deep watering and moisture retention is really important.
Temps are supposed to drop for at least 10 days, so I think I'll be able to replace the compost stuff before it gets hot again. It has been impossible to do anything in the garden except water for the last two weeks.
Thank you all for your support. At least now I have a plan.
Smiles,
Lyn
