It sounds a bit like too much water when you mention that the plants grow well for a while then wilt and die. Dill likes good soil and manure but does not like to be wet. Wilting and then dying is often an indicator of too much water. This may not be the reason but I would try planting it in a raised mound and see if that helps.
Jo, can Dill be grown in pots? Also, with any plants, Dill included, how do I water an entire vege patch/garden at once if some plants like water and othets don't like do much water?
Thanks
17 Jun 21 Celeste (Canada - Zone 7b Mild Temperate climate)
I sent a reply; and then thought about the complexity.... and as usual, I went over board.
So here is my best advice for a complete beginner gardeners.
If you have the space, a good garden to start with is a Mediterranean Herb garden (I say if you have the space because if you plant one of these in a small space, you might not have room to plant anything else - and perhaps other plants or vegetables would serve you better). Ok, so what is a Mediterranean herb garden. It is a garden comprised of herbs that don't need much water, can tolerate poorer soils and like sun and heat . When picking a location for this herb garden think about a few things: 1. it should be in the sun ( at least 6 hrs of sun per day) and 2. It does not have to be close to the water source. Generally you locate plants that require lots of water close to your tap, or within easy reach of your hose; because you will be watering them frequently. On the other hand, plants that don't require frequent watering can be located in "less prime" watering locations; since you don't have to water them frequently. Convenience is key here; put plants that like water in a spot that is easy to water, and plants that require less water further away in those difficult to get to zones.
The Mediterranean herb garden is a great garden to start with; since it is pretty tough to kill these herbs; they are very useable in cooking, or even eaten raw; and some are great ingredients in salad dressings. There is lots of return for little effort here; as herbs are high in vitamins. Most herbs can be started easily from seeds; cuttings or even the smallest of garden center plant purchases (in other words; I would not bother buying the 1 liter plant when the basket stuff size will do.
It should be noted that some people like to locate their dry herbs close to the kitchen, so they are more likely to snip a bit of this and a bit of that when they are cooking; it all depends on how you want to use your garden real estate; and what needs to be convenient for you.
There are also herbs that are considered "wet" ;herbs, because they like to be moist; Basil, mint etc.
Locate these herbs somewhere where it is easy to water them, and somewhere where you can easily keep an eye on them (and water them if they wilt) -- they might also like a break from the hot afternoon sun; so if the garden closest to your kitchen is shady in the hot afternoon (but still gets morning sun) - this is a good spot for them; making them easy to monitor, easy to water, and easy to snip a bit here and there when preparing a meal.
What I gather from your question is you need to take a little more time thinking about how you will "group" your plants into garden beds; or zones within a bed.
Again, my suggestion for complete beginners is the dry herb garden; it's the INTRO to gardening; and you know you are going when you start to use your herbs.....most people have an easy time getting the garden up and going, but have to force themselves to incorporate the herbs in their cooking in the beginning; it can be tough.
17 Jun 21 Celeste (Canada - Zone 7b Mild Temperate climate)
A late reply.... but none the less- here goes. You have planted incorrectly. That is, you should not interplant plants that like little water (dry) with heavy water consumers. This is part of the idea of companion planting - where you plant plants with similar needs, or plants that benefit each other in the same area. For example: carrots and tomatoes work well together; they have similar water requirements and they like the same type of soil. Further carrots are tap rooted and tomatoes have roots like fibers; this means you can plant them closer together and they should not bother each other. On the other hand a rosemary should not be planted near a tomato since rosemary is a "dry herb" and does not want to be as wet as the tomato.
Your dry herbs are : rosemary. oregano. tarragon. thyme, marjoram and lavender (plus artesima/wormwood etc).
Watering requirement approximate this for most vegetables: about 1.5 inches of water per week... maybe more, maybe less; it depends on a lot of factors. Look up by vegetable how much water is needed--- then use this calculation to figure out how to put that much water on:
The calculations below are a good starting point; but watering needs change based on the weather (lots of dry heat means lots of water lost to evaporation, overcast and damp means very little water will "dry off") -- so you do need to adjust; but the calculations below might give you some idea of where to start.
Let's say you have a garden bed that is 4' x 6'
And lets say you want to put in two inches of water.
So how much water is that ?
First let's calculate the area of your bed in inches squared
area = 4' x 6'
area in inches = 48" x 72"
area in inches = 3456 square inches
So we want to cover 3456 square inches of garden with 2 inches of water
So what we really need is the VOLUME (cubic inches) of water we need to cover this area
Volume of water needed = 3456 sq inches of garden x 2" of water
Volume of water needed = 6912 cubic inches of water ---> but what is a cubic inch of water in a measurement I understand ?
Using a google app to convert cubic inches of water to gallons we input the number of cubic inches and it tells us what that is in gallons.
So you need to add 30 gallons of water to have watered your 4' x 6' plot with 2 inches of water
Although dill is a hardy plant, it can be difficult to transplant young seedlings. Since dill does not transplant as well as other plants, plant dill seeds wherever you plan to grow them for the season.
This planting guide is a general reference intended for home gardeners. We recommend that you take into account your local conditions in making planting decisions. GardenGrow is not a farming or commercial advisory service. For specific advice, please contact your local plant suppliers, gardening groups, or agricultural department.
The information on this site is presented in good faith, but we take no responsibility as to the accuracy of the information provided.
We cannot help if you are overrun by giant slugs.