Dill

Anethum graveolens

In other languages: Dille (Nederlands) · Aneth (Français)

Comes from outside Europe, but is often planted here in gardens and parks.

Dill is an annual kitchen herb of the carrot family, with finely divided, thread-like, blue-green leaves and flat yellow umbels in June–August. It comes originally from south-west Asia and has been grown since ancient times; in Belgium it does not grow in the wild, although it sometimes escapes briefly from gardens. You recognise it by its hollow stem of 50–100 cm with a bluish bloom, its airy, feathery leaves and the typical fresh scent when you crush a leaf. In the kitchen the leaves go with fish, potatoes and cucumber, and the seeds and flower heads go into gherkins and pickles. The yellow umbels attract many small beneficial insects, and swallowtail caterpillars readily feed on the leaves.

Caution: Never pick ‘wild dill’ or other umbellifers in the countryside to eat: highly poisonous species such as hemlock and fool’s parsley can look like edible herbs to an untrained eye, and fool’s parsley also turns up as a weed in vegetable gardens. Only eat dill that you have sown yourself and recognise for certain by its yellow flowers, thread-like blue-green leaves and typical scent.

Updated on 9 October 2026

Light
Full sun
warm and bright
Moisture
Normal
no wet feet
Hardiness
down to -3 °C
protect in harsh winters
Size
0.8 m
tall, 0.3 m wide
Flowering
June–August

Key facts
Height	0.8 m
Native to Belgium	No, planted
Flowering	June–August

Identify

How to recognise it

Growth form: Annual with a single upright, sparingly branched stem of 50–100 cm and a taproot.
Leaf: Blue-green, three to four times divided into thread-thin segments, with a sheath around the stem. Smells fresh and spicy when crushed.
Flower: Large, flat umbels of 10–20 cm with 15–40 rays and countless tiny yellow flowers, without bracts at the base, in June–August.
Fruit/Seed: Flat, oval, brown fruits of 3–5 mm with a narrow, pale winged edge; they smell strongly of dill.
Stem: Hollow, smooth, finely striped and covered in a bluish bloom.
Confusion with: Fennel looks very similar but is perennial, taller, greener and smells of aniseed; its seeds are elongated and ribbed, without a wing. Poisonous umbellifers such as fool’s parsley and hemlock have white flowers and broader, parsley-like leaves.

Flowering: June–August

In your garden

Why grow it?

The open yellow umbels are a buffet for hoverflies, tiny parasitic wasps, ladybirds and other small insects that clear up aphids.
Food plant of the swallowtail butterfly: its green-and-black striped caterpillars with orange spots feed on dill, fennel and carrot.
Quick and easy: six to eight weeks after sowing you can already harvest leaves.
Leaves, flower heads and seeds are all useful in the kitchen, from herring and salmon to pickled gherkins.
An airy, graceful plant in the vegetable garden and among flowers, which often self-sows.

Dill: where does it grow best?

Native to south-west Asia; in Belgium only grown in vegetable gardens and sometimes briefly escaped on open, disturbed ground.
Full sun and a sheltered spot: the tall stems snap in strong wind.
Loose, well-drained, moderately fertile soil that does not dry out; it will not cope with heavy, wet clay.
Sow it in the vegetable garden, among flowers or in a deep pot of at least 25 cm, for the taproot.

Goes well with

Cucumber: Classic neighbours, in the vegetable garden and in the pickle jar.
Pot marigold: Together they attract many hoverflies, which clear up aphids.
Lettuce: Dill grows airily and takes up little space between the lettuces.
Cornflower: Blue next to the yellow umbel, in a flowery vegetable-garden edge.
Carrot: Another swallowtail food plant: together a small paradise for this butterfly.

Maintenance

Dill: when and how to plant it?

Buy seed from a garden centre or seed merchant. Dill does not grow wild here: so never pick ‘wild dill’ in the countryside.
Sow from mid-April to July directly where it is to grow, in rows 25–30 cm apart: dill has a taproot and dislikes being transplanted.
Sow thinly, cover with 0.5–1 cm of soil and firm down; keep the soil moist until germination, after 1–3 weeks.
Thin to 15–20 cm between plants: this gives sturdier plants that are slower to bolt.
Sow a new short row every 3–4 weeks to have young leaves all summer.
Water in dry spells: dry soil makes dill run to flower very quickly.

Care

Water: Keep the soil slightly moist, especially for young plants and in warm weather.
Feeding: A little compost at sowing time is enough. Too much fertiliser gives floppy stems.
Harvesting: Cut leaves once the plant is 20–30 cm tall, taking only part of the plant each time. For seed, let the umbels turn brown.
Support: In a windy spot, a few canes with a string around the row stop the plants from falling over.
Letting it seed: Let a few umbels ripen: dill self-sows readily and you will have free plants next year. Weed out surplus seedlings.

Tip: Sow a short row of dill every three to four weeks rather than one big batch: you will have fresh leaves all summer, and always a few flowering umbels for the insects.

Pruning and mowing

When: Not really needed: dill is an annual. You harvest and cut from June to September.

How:

If you mainly want leaves, remove the flower buds as soon as they appear: the plant will keep producing leaves a little longer.
For pickling, cut the flowering or young seed heads in July–August.
Let a few plants ripen for seed and for the insects, and pull up the dead plants in autumn.
In a nature garden, leave a few dry, hollow stems standing until spring: small insects overwinter inside them.

Pruning calendar and basic rules

Propagation

Seed: The only way. In August–September cut the brown seed heads, let them dry in a paper bag and shake out the seeds. Sow in April–July; the seed stays viable for a few years.
Self-sowing: If you let the seed heads ripen on the plant, seedlings will appear by themselves in spring.

Dill: how does it get through the winter?

Hardy to −3 °C: protect in harsh winters.

Dill is an annual: the plant dies after setting seed or at the first frost.
Leave a few hollow stems until spring; they give shelter to small insects.
Seed that falls to the ground overwinters and germinates in spring.
Keep dill for winter: chop the leaves and freeze them, or dry the seeds.

Diseases and pests

Bolting: In drought, heat or when sown too thickly, dill flowers quickly and makes few leaves. Sow thinly, water and sow again regularly.
Aphids: Black or green aphids on stems and umbels. Spray off with water; hoverflies and ladybirds will do the rest.
Slugs: They eat young seedlings. Sow a little later, when the soil is warmer and the plants grow faster, and pick slugs off in the evening.
Falling over: Tall plants snap in wind or after rain. Sow in a sheltered spot and give some support.
Crossing with fennel: Dill and fennel can cross with each other. Do not grow them side by side if you want to save your own seed.

Through the year

April: From mid-April, sow outdoors.
May: Sow again. Thin to 15–20 cm. Keep an eye out for slugs.
June: Harvest leaves. First yellow umbels. Sow again.
July: Full flower: hoverflies and tiny wasps on the umbels. Cut flower heads for pickling. Last sowing.
August: Flowering and seed set. Water in dry spells. Look out for swallowtail caterpillars.
September: Harvest and dry the seed.
October: Clear dead plants; leave a few hollow stems standing.

You and this species

Did you know?

Graveolens is Latin for ‘strong-smelling’; celery (Apium graveolens) carries the same species name.
In Scandinavia and eastern Europe dill is the herb above all others: with cured salmon, crayfish, new potatoes and gherkins.
What we call dill seed is botanically a fruit: as in all umbellifers, each fruit splits into two halves, each holding one seed.

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