How to Trim Dill [5 Steps for Productive Dill]

To trim dill so it doesn’t become overgrown or die off:

• Wait until your dill is at least 6 inches tall (15 cm).
• Use a sharp pair of scissors to cut off dill leaves where they meet the stem.
• Leave some leaves on the stem you are trimming.
• Never trim more than one-third of the plant. Trimming too much will kill the plant.
• Always prune off dill flowers before they bloom. If you don’t, the plant will flower and die.

These simple steps will keep your dill alive much longer. If it’s allowed to flower, dill will die quickly. Trimmed dill stays alive for years.

Trim Your Dill for Healthier Growth

Properly trimmed dill will grow back stronger than before. Trimming your dill causes the plant to develop bushy, thick growth that spreads to fill the container it’s planted in.

By cultivating bushy dill, you will produce more fresh dill leaves for cooking. Plus, you’ll make your dill an even better habitat for ladybugs and other beneficial insects. The fact that pest-killing insects love to live in trimmed dill makes your dill an even better companion plant for other varieties in your garden.

Untrimmed Dill Won’t Survive

Dill that isn’t trimmed will die in eight to 10 weeks. This is because dill that is left to its own devices will “bolt” and produce flowers. After your dill plant flowers, it will die. Proper trimming will keep your dill plant alive and producing flavorful leaves for up to two years.

5 Steps to Trim Dill Without Killing Your Plant

Improper trimming ruins countless herb gardens each growing season. If you follow our steps for harvesting dill weed, you’ll never have this problem.

Allow Dill to Reach Mature Height

Let your dill grow to a height of six to eight inches (15–20 cm) before you trim the plant. Harvesting young dill too soon can kill the entire plant. Luckily, dill grows fast. After you plant your dill seeds, your dill will be tall enough to trim in six to eight weeks.

• Wait for your dill to grow to 6–8 inches tall before trimming (15–20 cm).
• It will take 6–8 weeks for dill to grow to a trimmable height.
• Make sure your dill stems have 4 or more leaves before trimming.
• Do not trim dill if the stems have less than 4 leaves.

Take a close look at the individual stems of your dill plant before you start trimming. If the stem reaches the height requirement and has at least four leaves branching off the vertical stem, it’s ready for a trim. Dill stems with 3 leaves or less should not be trimmed.

Use Sharp Scissors

Dill should be trimmed with a pair of sharp kitchen scissors or herb shears. Trimming with sharp tools causes less damage and stress to the plant than pinching off leaves by hand. Tugging on leaves to remove them can wound your plant.

• Use sharp, high-quality scissors like these ones to trim dill.
• Avoid plucking or pinching dill leaves by hand.
• Clean your scissors with rubbing alcohol before and after trimming your dill.

It’s essential to clean your scissors before using them. Douse the blades in rubbing alcohol to kill any bacteria or fungus. This is essential when switching between plants during trimming. If the blades of your scissors are not clean you risk transmitting diseases from one plant to another.

Trim the Upper Leaves

When trimming dill, it’s best to work from the top down. Remove the upper leaves during trimming. This encourages your dill to grow bushy and full, with plenty of outward growth. In contrast, trimming the lower leaves from your dill will create leggy stems that fall over onto the ground.

• Trim off the upper portions of dill stems and leaves to promote healthy growth and recovery.
• Do not trim off the lower leaves—this can cause dill to flop over.
• The younger leaves at the top of the dill stem have the best flavor for cooking.

You will get the most tender and flavorful dill by trimming and using the upper leaves. The leaves at the top of the dill stem are younger and contain more of the plant’s natural oils. You won’t get a more delicious fresh herb than tender dill leaves.

Don’t Remove Too Much

When you trim your dill, never remove more than one-third of the plant’s height. So, if your dill is six inches tall (15 cm), remove no more than two inches (5 cm) from each stem. Use your scissors to cut off the individual leaves where they meet the main stem. Set the leaves aside for cooking or drying. Then, prune off the bare upper portion of the stem and discard it.

• Trim off up to one-third of your dill plant’s height during trimming.
• Cut off individual leaves, then remove the bare top portion of the stem.
• Do not remove more than one-third of the leaves from each stem.
• If you trim too many leaves off a dill stem, it will die.

Never remove all the leaves on a dill stem. If a dill stem loses all its leaves, it will not recover. This will kill the stem and may weaken the entire plant. Instead, apply the one-third rule to leaves. Trim off up to one-third of the leaves on each stem. If the stem has six leaves, remove no more than two leaves.

Prune Off Flowers

When trimming you dill it is important to look for flower heads and prune them off. Dill flowers grow on tall stems, with bunches of yellowish-green buds. Cut the entire flower stem off below the flower buds. You can then discard the flower buds.

• Look for bunches of dill flower buds or yellow flowers.
• Prune off flower stems and discard them.
• Dill that is allowed to flower will lose flavor and die.
• Trimming off flowers keeps your dill alive for much longer.

If you do not trim off dill flower buds, they will open and produce yellow flowers. Once the plant flowers, the leaves will begin to lose their flavor, so you won’t get good-tasting herbs. Even worse, once the flowers wilt and transform into a seed head, the entire dill plant will die. By pruning off the flowers, you will keep your dill plant alive for much longer. This way, you’ll get far more dill leaves for your kitchen.

Grow Tasty Dill, Fast

The quickest way to grow dill to a trimmable size is with this indoor garden. It doesn’t matter if you have no gardening experience, pots, soil, or tools. Click and Grow provides dill pods that are guaranteed to sprout or they’ll send you a new one.

All you have to do is plug in the garden, put the pod into place, and add water to the reservoir. Click and Grow takes care of providing light and regular water. You’ll have dill ready for harvest in weeks.

Store Fresh Dill After Cutting

Dill leaves taste best while fresh. So, it’s a good idea to harvest just enough dill for cooking. If you need to trim an overgrown dill plant and store the leaves, you can store the fresh leaves in the refrigerator for three to five days. For long-term storage, hang bunches of dill upside-down in a warm, dry room for three to four weeks. Then, crumble the dried leaves into a container for use in cooking.