How to Grow Organic Dill in Your Herb Garden

Introduction to Growing Dill

Dill adds a zesty, slightly citrusy, garden-fresh punch to your meals. Like cilantro and parsley, two of my favorite herbs, dill is a member of the Apiaceae, or carrot, family (pictured below), which tells you a lot about the growth habit of these herbs.

Did you know, for instance, that dill has a large taproot (kinda like a carrot)? The longer it stays in your garden, the longer this taproot can grow.

Dill plants are forgiving of most gardening conditions and are fast growers (they can easily reach several feet tall in your garden), even though they won't be staying in your garden for very long. 

In addition to being a delicious and easy-to-grow herb, dill is beloved by many beneficial insects—reason enough, in my opinion, to give this herb a grow in your own garden.

Is dill weed the same as dill?

The herb we know and love as dill has three main edible parts. First there's dill weed, which refers to the feathery green leaves of the dill herb that are often used fresh in the kitchen as a seasoning for salads, sauces, sandwiches, and more.

Then, there's dill flowers, which are 100 percent edible and can be used similarly to the leaves in dishes.

Lastly, there are dill seeds, which are used as a flavoring for things like pickles, coleslaw, and sauerkraut. I love to toss dill seeds onto salads and soups in the wintertime when I'm craving garden-fresh flavors.

With a name like dill weed, you might expect dill to be easy to grow, and you'd be correct. Let's look at how to grow your own organic dill.

How Dill Grows Best

SUN

Like many other herbs, dill grows best when given between six and eight hours of direct sunlight, but it'll continue to grow with just four hours. Dill appreciates a little afternoon shade, especially as the temperature rises.

Temperature

Dill loves cooler weather. Its ideal temperature range is between 45 and 75 degrees Fahrenheit.

SOIL

Herbs tend to like loose, sandy soil due to its ability to drain well, and dill is no exception. Add a bit of finished compost and some sand (not playground sand but the type you can buy near the wood section at a hardware store, also called torpedo sand) to your soil before planting dill.

FERTILIZER

Soil rich in organic matter (like compost) can often provide dill with enough nutrients to produce many delicious leaves for you. If you'd like to ramp up leaf production, add a bit of nitrogen, either by adding a nitrogen-rich fertilizer to your watering or by spritzing the leaves of the herb at regular intervals.

WATER

Dill likes consistent watering (more than you would water herbs like sage, oregano, and thyme). Water dill regularly so that the soil never completely dries out. Aim to give dill about one inch of water per week.

When to Plant Dill from Seed

Dill is a cool season plant, just like most plants in the carrot family. It performs best during typical spring and fall temperatures.

For those of you in colder climates, you can plant dill in the early spring, even when there's still a chance of frost, as long as the soil can be worked. Dill actually germinates best when planted in cooler temperatures.

Dill will start to flower and produce seeds once warmer weather arrives with summer. You can plant dill again in the fall.

For those of you with milder winters, you can begin growing dill in the late fall and throughout the winter months. Dill will start to flower once the weather warms in the spring.

While you can still eat dill that's bolting, the flavor changes considerably. 

Is dill a perennial?

Dill is a soft herb that's grown as an annual, meaning it will go from seed to seed in one growing season. You can expect to enjoy dill in your herb garden for three to six months, depending on your climate.

Toward the end of dill's life cycle or when the weather warms up too quickly, dill will bolt, meaning it will produce a thick center stem and sets of pretty yellow flowers. These flowers dry and become seeds for next year.

During your next cool season, dill needs to be planted from seed again, though if you let flowers dry and drop seeds the year before, dill will often reseed itself in the same location.

How to Plant Dill Seeds

Find the right location in your raised beds or herb garden for dill. The ideal location:

• has protection from strong winds, as dill can easily be blown over.
• receives at least four hours of direct sunlight.
• is near the back of the bed so that dill doesn't shade other plants once its grown tall. (Remember, dill can grow up to three feet tall.)

Dill can be grown in a container and does well paired with other herbs in a large herb garden like my rolling steel planter (pictured below). Just make sure your container is at least 12 inches deep since dill grows a long taproot that needs room to stretch down. Your container also needs to have sufficient drainage holes so that your herbs' roots don't sit in water for too long.

Dill grows tall, not wide, so you can grow as many as six to nine dill plants per square foot of garden space. (You'll need to promise to harvest leaves frequently if you pack your herbs in like this though.)

Annuals with taproots like dill can be harmed during the transplanting process, so it's best to sow your dill seeds directly into the garden. I've even found that dill I grew from seed myself outperforms plants purchased from the nursery and given a head start.

Steps to sow dill seeds

step one

Add a thin layer of finished compost to your soil.

step two

Use a dibber or your finger to indent the soil, and sow dill seeds about ﾼ-inch deep. Dill seeds are fairly easy to handle, so add just one seed per hole.

step three

Cover your seeds with a light layer of soil and water in well.

Dill germinates quickly, so you should see seedlings appear in as little as ten to 14 days.

Dill Growing Tips

Tip #1:

Grow five dill plants per person in your household for enough fresh and saved herbs to last you all year.

Tip #2:

Keep planting dill throughout the season so you delay running out of fresh leaves for as long as possible. Remember, even the most well-cared-for dill will only live about 90 to 120 days in the garden, so you'll need to start new plants every few weeks. In mild climates, you can plant another round of dill as soon as your last batch has gone to seed.

Tip #3:

Pinch the first flowers off of dill to extend its leaf production time a bit.

Tip #4:

Keep your garden weed-free so that dill doesn't have to compete for resources with plants you won't get to eat and enjoy.

How to Harvest Fresh Dill

Dill takes about 45 to 60 days to grow from seeds planted directly in the garden. You can begin harvesting from your dill plants once they've reached about eight inches in height.

When harvesting dill, like any other herb, start by cutting the older, outermost branches first and work your way in. You can use a clean pair of scissors, garden snips, or pruners to cut, or you can simply pinch off the soft leaves with your fingers.

Harvest from your herbs frequently to encourage more leaf production.

Harvested dill loses its flavor quickly, so use your leaves fresh as soon after cutting them as possible. Unlike herbs like thyme or rosemary, dill doesn't dry well. I've found it's better to preserve the leaves in oil or the freezer.

Why You Should Let Your Dill Flower

While you should pinch off the first flowers from your dill to enjoy fresh leaves for a bit longer, know that your dill is going to seed and there's nothing you can do about it. But don't worry. You want your dill to flower for two reasons.

First of all, dill flowers attract beneficial bugs like bees, ladybugs, wasps, and butterflies to your garden. Most importantly, the caterpillars that will eventually turn into swallowtail butterflies love munching on bolting dill. The pretty little flowers start to bloom as the weather warms, which just so happens to be right when your tomatoes, cucumbers, squash, and zucchini need to be pollinated. The timing is perfect to serve up some delicious food for our pollinators.

The second reason to let dill flower and linger in your garden is because of the seeds (pictured above). These are basically free plants, people!

You can follow these steps to save your own dill seeds for next year or harvest the seeds to use as a spice in your kitchen. I pour seeds into a spice shaker and store with the rest of my seasonings.

If you leave dill be long enough to drop its seeds in your garden and then you avoid disturbing the soil too much, dill will often reseed itself next spring (or when the temperature is right).

In summary, let your dill form flowers and complete its life cycle in your space instead of pulling it from the garden the second it starts to bolt. I also just love the whimsical cottage feel of the flowers.

Grow Your Own Dill

Pop some dill seeds in your garden during your next cool season, and I promise this herb will become a garden staple for you, either because you can't get enough of its fragrance and flavor or because you love dill's benefits for the garden good guys, those bees and butterflies we ought to look after.

Growing herbs like dill is one of the simplest ways to get started in your own kitchen garden. Once you find quick success growing dill, you’ll be excited to branch out to other herbs (check out five herbs that are easy to start from seed), leafy greens, vegetables, and fruits.

Thanks for helping me bring back the kitchen garden one dill plant at a time!