Growing Dill: A Complete Profile

By Growing Home Greens Team · July 18, 2026

Dill is an easy, low-maintenance herb that mostly takes care of itself once it’s in the ground, the main thing to get right is where you plant it, since mature dill doesn’t get along with one of the garden’s most common root crops.

Sowing a taproot that resents disturbance

Direct-sow seed about 1/4 inch deep roughly a week before your last frost. Dill doesn’t transplant well, thanks to a taproot that resents disturbance. At 4 plants per square foot, it grows quickly, reaching usable size in under two months. Left alone, dill will flower, set seed, and often self-sow for next year, which is a feature if you want a returning patch and a nuisance if you don’t.

Bolting is a heat response, not a mistake

Dill that bolts almost as soon as it’s established is usually a heat response, like cilantro, dill is a cool-season herb at heart, and hot weather pushes it to flower early at the expense of leaf production. Choosing a slower-to-bolt variety helps but doesn’t eliminate this. Yellowing on lower leaves that spreads upward can be a sign of overly wet soil rather than a nutrient issue.

Keep it well away from the carrots

Dill attracts beneficial predatory insects that help protect nearby brassicas like cabbage. See the full companion guide for dill. Keep it well away from carrots: mature, flowering dill can inhibit carrot root development and cross-attract shared pests. In the Garden Designer, its self-seeding habit is worth accounting for, a dill patch left to flower will likely come back on its own the following year in the same spot.

Companion planting guide for Dill · Find your planting dates

Typically viable in USDA zones 2-10. Not sure your zone? Look it up by ZIP code.

Method: Direct sow: Direct-sow outside. Dill doesn't transplant well, or doesn't need the extra time indoors.

See exact start-indoors, direct-sow, and harvest dates for your zone →

How many Dill plants fit per square foot?

Spacing: 4 per square foot (square-foot-gardening spacing). Mature height: 2-3 ft.

Varieties worth considering

• Dukat (also sold as SuperDukat): Wisconsin Horticulture Extension notes Dukat and SuperDukat have strong flavor and high oil content and are slow to bolt, a better pick than standard dill if you're growing mainly for leaves (dill weed) rather than seed heads. (source)
• Bouquet: Wisconsin Extension notes this is the variety bred for seed production, 2-3 feet tall with abundant seed heads. The one to grow if the goal is dill seed for pickling, not just the leaves. (source)
• Fernleaf: A compact type, only about 18 inches, slow to bolt and bred for containers per Wisconsin Extension, delaying flowering by 10-14 days compared to Bouquet. The pick for a small bed or a pot rather than a dedicated row. (source)

Cited from the source shown next to each variety. We haven't grown these ourselves yet, so treat this as a research-backed starting point, not a personal endorsement.

Where to buy dill seeds

• Botanical Interests
• True Leaf Market
• Burpee
• High Mowing Organic Seeds

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See it growing

Search YouTube for "growing dill" videos → (a live search, not a hand-picked video; results vary and aren't vetted by us)

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Growing Dill: An easy, self-seeding herb best planted away from carrots, where mature dill can work against them.

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