In the Garden
Fernleaf dill has especially dense foliage.In addition to providing aromatic seeds and foliage, dill will brighten your garden with its yellow-green flowers in spring and fall. While typical dill grows to a height of 2 to 3 feet, Fernleaf dill is more compact, growing only 18 to 24 inches tall. It is a cool-season annual. With its slender stem and delicate leaves, it makes a good mid- to back-of-the-border addition to your garden. Plant dill in a spot where it can easily reseed.
Planting and Care
Dill blooms stretch up on skinny stalks.
These blooms have developed into seeds.Dill likes direct sun and rich, well-drained soil with a pH between 5.5 and 6.5. Use organic matter to enrich the soil before planting, and add a slow-release fertilizer to the soil before or while planting. If your garden is vulnerable to strong winds, you will need to stake the dill plants.
This plant likes mild weather and is best in the spring and again in fall. You may set out transplants following the last spring frost and then plant again 2 months prior to the first winter frost. Be sure to keep plants watered in dry weather.
Plants may need staking when in bloom to keep the tall flower stems from falling over. You can keep plants cut to delay flowering, or harvest the whole plant as soon as the dill flowers. The first winter frost will kill dill planted in the fall. However, if it had time to go to seed, the fallen seed may produce new plants in the spring.
Troubleshooting
The caterpillars of the black swallowtail butterfly will probably find your dill.Plant dill far from fennel, since the cross-pollination of these herbs produces variable results. Dill, like parsley and fennel, draws the parsleyworm caterpillar, which is the larva of the black swallowtail butterfly. Plant enough to feed yourself and the caterpillars. Far from a pest, the butterflies are often encouraged by gardeners who plant dill and parsley in patches just to attract them.
Harvest and Storage
You can harvest the whole plant in full bloom to enjoy a riot of foliage and flowers.Harvest dill foliage at any point between seedling and blooming stages. You may harvest the entire dill plant, preserving the foliage, as soon as the plant starts to flower and set seed. You can freeze leaves by snipping off an entire branch, putting it in a plastic bag, and storing it in the freezer. The flowers last a few days in a vase, too, if you’d like to display them, but be prepared to dust under them as they shatter.
Harvest dill seeds as soon as they turn brown, before they fall to the ground. Snip the flower head from the stalk, then, in a warm, dry area, hang them upside-down in a paper bag. Once the seeds have dried and fallen into the bag, collect them for storage in an airtight container.
Uses
Dill seed is a pungent ingredient found in salad dressings, pickles, sauerkraut, and even breads. Enjoy the leaves at their peak when they are fresh, finely chopping for best flavor. Dill can be also a handy salt substitute for people on low-sodium diets.
You can dry the leaves, but add them to dishes in greater quantity, as they are less flavorful than fresh leaves. Dill leaves may also be preserved in oil, butter, or vinegar for pickles or frozen in water or stock.