RHS Growing Guides
How to grow dill
Our detailed growing guide will help you with each step in successfully growing Dill.
Getting Started
Dill is a popular culinary herb, mainly grown for its feathery leaves, which have a mild aniseed-like flavour, similar to fennel but more subtle. Although harvests last only a few weeks, if you sow seeds repeatedly in small batches, you can have fresh leaves to pick all summer. The flowers and seeds are also edible.
Young dill (front) provides leafy harvests, then it produces tall flowering stems (behind)
Dill is a short-lived plant, producing leafy harvests for several weeks until, sooner or later, it starts to flower. Sow it outdoors from mid-spring in a sunny spot, and you can start harvesting leaves in as little as eight weeks. If you sow several small batches from spring to mid-summer, you’ll have fresh dill leaves to enjoy through into autumn. And if you let dill flower and set seed, you’ll also get self-sown plants to harvest too.
Dill leaves are traditionally used to flavour chicken, fish and egg dishes, and of course dill pickles, and can be chopped into soups and salads. Dill seeds can be used in baking and many other dishes.
Month by Month
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Choosing
Dill leaves have a fresh citrus-like flavour with a hint of aniseed
What and where to buy
Dill seeds are widely available in garden centres and online from seed suppliers and herb nurseries. You can also buy young plants in spring and summer from similar stockists.
Recommended Varieties
Sowing
Sow dill in a warm, sunny location and start harvesting in just a couple of months
Sowing indoors
To start dill off indoors, fill a modular tray with moist peat-free seed compost, then sow one seed per module. Keep at a temperature of at least 15°C (60°F). Dill can be sown virtually all year round to grow on a sunny windowsill or in a warm greenhouse, but for transplanting outdoors sow from mid-spring to early summer. Seeds should germinate in about a week. Keep the seedlings in bright light and water regularly until ready to transplant outdoors – see Planting, below.
Sowing outdoors
Sow dill seeds in small batches outdoors from late spring through to mid-summer – start sowing once there’s no risk of frost and the soil has warmed up. Choose a warm, sunny position with fertile, free-draining soil. You can also sow dwarf varieties in a large container. Dill dislikes cold, soggy conditions.
To sow in the ground, make a shallow drill about 1cm (½in) deep, water along the base then sow the seeds thinly and cover with soil. Allow 30cm (12in) between neighbouring rows. Or sow into a large container filled with moist peat-free multi-purpose compost or a growing bag – scatter the seeds thinly and cover lightly with compost. For more sowing tips, see our guides below.
Planting
Plant dill in a prominent spot, where you can enjoy its beautiful (and edible) flowers
Water the young dill plants before transplanting, then gently lift them from their module or pot and plant straight away without disturbing the roots. Position them at the depth they were previously growing and space them 10–15cm (4–6in) apart, then water in well. Alternatively, you can plant several young dill plants in a large container, at least 30cm (1ft) wide and deep, filled with peat-free multi-purpose compost. Dwarf varieties are best for containers or growing bags, and can be planted only 10cm (4in) apart. Firm them in gently, then water well. Protect dill seedlings from slugs and snails.
Plant Care
Water dill in dry spells to deter premature flowering, weed regularly around young plants and protect them from slugs and snails. Harvest the leafy shoot tips frequently to keep plants bushy and productive, and provide supports for taller plants if necessary.
Cutting back
Supporting plants
If you leave the flower stems to grow, they’ll usually reach at least 90cm (3ft), with taller varieties getting to 150cm (5ft) or more. So they may need to be supported with bamboo canes or twiggy sticks to stop them flopping or getting blown over. Alternatively, to keep plants more compact, pinch out the growing tips regularly and remove young flower stems, or grow a compact variety.
Propagating
Gather dill seeds once they ripen and dry out in late summer or autumn, for sowing in spring. Alternatively, leave the seeds in place and they will scatter and germinate to provide new plants. You can dig these up and move them to a suitable growing site if necessary, but do this when they’re still young, before they form a tap root – see Planting, above.
Harvesting
Harvest dill seeds once they turn brown, for using in cooking or for sowing in spring
Use the leaves as soon as possible after harvesting, as they soon wilt, even if kept in the fridge. Dill leaves have an aromatic flavour reminiscent of fennel. They go particularly well with fish, potatoes and eggs, and with cucumber to make dill pickles. You can add chopped leaves to salads, dressings and dips. You can also dry dill leaves for future use by hanging up sprigs in a dark, well-ventilated place for a few weeks. When fully dried, strip the leaves from the stems and store in an air-tight jar.
Dill’s tiny yellow flowers can be sprinkled in salads or used to flavour dill pickles. Whole flower stems also look great in floral arrangements.
Dill seeds can be harvested in late summer when they ripen and turn brown – cut whole stems and put the seedhead in a paper bag, then hang the stems upside down until the seeds dry and drop. Remove any bits of stem, then store the seeds in an air-tight container. Dill seeds have a stronger flavour than the leaves and can be used whole or ground, cooked in soups and vegetable dishes, or baked in breads and biscuits.
Problems
Dill is prone to bolting (premature flowering) in hot dry weather, so if you’re growing it for the leaves, keep it well watered in summer, never letting the soil dry out completely. Dill is a short-lived plant and will naturally flower once mature, which curtails leaf production. So sow new batches of seeds every few weeks (successional sowing) to take over from plants that start to flower. You can also remove the flower stalk as soon as it starts to form, to extend the leaf harvest for as long as possible.
Dill’s delicate foliage is vulnerable to slugs, snails and aphids – see Common problems, below, for advice.
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