Planting guide

When to plant dill

Feathery leaves for fish, potatoes and pickles; easy from seed in the cool months. In Melbourne it goes in Aug–Mar.

Start as: Seed, sown in place
Ready in: 6–9 wks
Spacing: 20 cm
Depth: 0.5 cm
Sun: Full sun (6+ hours)
Water: Regular
Effort: Easy
Frost-tender: No

When it goes in

● means dill can go in that month, ○ means wait. Worked out from each town's climate zone and season, the way planting guides do it. Pick your town for the full list for that month.

Australian towns and cities
Town	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec
Sydney	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	●	●
Melbourne	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	●	●
Brisbane	○	○	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	○	○
Perth	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	●	●
Adelaide	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	●	●
Gold Coast	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	●	●
Newcastle	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	●	●
Sunshine Coast	○	○	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	○	○
Canberra	●	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	●
Central Coast	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	●	●
Geelong	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	●	●
Wollongong	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	●	●
Hobart	●	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	●
Townsville	○	○	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	○	○
Cairns	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	●	○	○	○	○
Toowoomba	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	●	●
Darwin	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	●	○	○	○	○
Ballarat	●	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	●
Mandurah	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	●	●
Bendigo	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	●	●
Launceston	●	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	●
Mackay	○	○	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	○	○
Rockhampton	○	○	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	○	○
Coffs Harbour	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	●	●
Blue Mountains	●	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	●
Bunbury	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	●	●
Bundaberg	○	○	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	○	○
Alice Springs	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	●	●
Mildura	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	●	●
Port Macquarie	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	●	●

Around the world
Town	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec
Auckland	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	●	●
Wellington	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	●	●
Christchurch	●	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	●
London	○	○	●	●	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	○
Manchester	○	○	●	●	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	○
Edinburgh	○	○	○	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	○
Dublin	○	○	●	●	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	○
New York City	○	○	○	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	○
Los Angeles	○	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	○	○	○
Chicago	○	○	○	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	○
Seattle	○	○	●	●	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	○
Austin	○	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	○	○	○
Toronto	○	○	○	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	○
Vancouver	○	○	○	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	○
Cape Town	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	●	●
Johannesburg	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	●	●
Singapore	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	●	●
Mumbai	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	●	●
Paris	○	○	●	●	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	○
Berlin	○	○	○	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	○

How to plant dill

Sow seed 0.5 cm deep where it will grow; it hates transplanting.
Thin to 20 cm apart.
Pick fronds from the outside as needed.
Let heads flower and set seed for pickling.

Dill varieties

Classic varieties are the reliable, widely grown ones. Adventurous ones are heirlooms, odd colours and rarities.

Mammoth Classicheirloom · giant · 6–9 wksTall, heavy-yielding dill for fronds and seed
Bouquet Classicheirloom · 6–9 wksClassic pickling dill with big flower heads
Fernleaf Classicdwarf · pot-friendly · slow-bolting · 6–8 wksCompact and slow to flower; good in pots