How to save an overwatered rosemary?

Blenkiron

Evening all, I’ve got a 1 year old rosemary ‘miss Jessops upright’ that’s about a foot tall, we’ve just had a week of bad weather with lots of rain 😭
Now when I planted it I made sure to throw a decent amount of sand in the hole but with the rain it’s started to die, I’ve poked aeration holes around it and poked some holes and filled with sand and also put some rocks around it to try stop any more rain getting to the roots as easy... is there any hope of it coming back? I’ve skipped away the main dead branches but a few others are turning the greyish colour, any advice is welcomed and appreciated
thankyou

Fire

Hi, is it a place of scorching sun?

Blenkiron

Fire said:

Hi, is it a place of scorching sun?

I wouldn’t say scorching sun as I’m in Yorkshire, UK 🤣 but it’s facing south and gets sun almost all day when it is sunny 

Pete.8

if you used sharp sand to help with drainage, that should be ok, but grit is much better.
If you used builders sand then that tends to hold water and sometimes contains toxins.

If some of it looks ok you could take cuttings - easy this time of year

dappledshade

Could you lift it, do some remedial work on its planting hole and then stick it back in?
I have mine in the ground too but there is loads of stuff under it like broken crocks, grit and sharp sand, to keep it free draining. Ditto my olives. 
They're pretty tough so I'd first take cuttings (just in case) and then go for it, you haven't got anything to lose by the sounds of it. Good luck!

hogweed

Not sure it is the rain that is your problem. I had one in my garden for years - I live in Scotland, lots of rain, and made absolutely no provision for extra drainage round its roots. I eventually hoiked it out as it was outgrowing its space. I've always thought of rosemary as having silvery green foliage.

Blenkiron

Thanks for all the replies, taken 2 cuttings this morning and going to lift it later tonight and add some sharp sand and other debris to the new hole 😂 luckily I’ve still got one healthy plant in a pot so worse comes to worse and it dies, I can try that instead

micearguers

You could also stick it in a pot for a while. Inspect the roots first; if parts are rotting cut them off, or if there is a tangle of roots in heavy soil reduce this et cetera. If you reduce the roots, reduce a bit of the top growth as well.

Blenkiron

So I dug it out removed the damp clumped soil from the roots and the roots look really good and strong. I’ve double dug the hole about 1.5ft down and wide, added some grit, gravel and compost and replanted. Hopefully it’ll help, I had the thought of adding grass clippings to help the drainage, would this of worked?

Dirty Harry

Cuttings are obviously an option but, I have to say, unless needing a mass planting, for all a small plant costs to buy it might be a better option, certainly quicker...