The second reason to let dill flower and linger in your garden is because of the seeds (pictured above). The timing is perfect to serve up some delicious food for our pollinators. 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. Most importantly, the caterpillars that will eventually turn into swallowtail butterflies love munching on bolting dill. You want your dill to flower for two reasons.įirst of all, dill flowers attract beneficial bugs like bees, ladybugs, wasps, and butterflies to your garden. 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. I've even found that dill I grew from seed myself outperforms plants purchased from the nursery and given a head start. (You'll need to promise to harvest leaves frequently if you pack your herbs in like this though.)Īnnuals with taproots like dill can be harmed during the transplanting process, so it's best to sow your dill seeds directly into the garden. Your container also needs to have sufficient drainage holes so that your herbs' roots don't sit in water for too long.ĭill grows tall, not wide, so you can grow as many as six to nine dill plants per square foot of garden space. Just make sure your container is at least 12 inches deep since dill grows a long taproot that needs room to stretch down. (Remember, dill can grow up to three feet tall.)ĭill 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). is near the back of the bed so that dill doesn't shade other plants once its grown tall.receives at least four hours of direct sunlight.has protection from strong winds, as dill can easily be blown over.Aim to give dill about one inch of water per week.įind the right location in your raised beds or herb garden for dill. Water dill regularly so that the soil never completely dries out. WATERĭill likes consistent watering (more than you would water herbs like sage, oregano, and thyme). 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. Soil rich in organic matter (like compost) can often provide dill with enough nutrients to produce many delicious leaves for you. 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. Herbs tend to like loose, sandy soil due to its ability to drain well, and dill is no exception. Its ideal temperature range is between 45 and 75 degrees Fahrenheit. Dill appreciates a little afternoon shade, especially as the temperature rises. 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.
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