Growing Guide for Parsley, Dill & Basil

Our favourite summer herbs, from our good friends at King's Seeds.

Perhaps more than any other ingredient, fresh herbs bring food to life with their vibrant zingy flavours. Parsley, dill and basil are herbs we would hate to be without over summer. Thanks to our lovely friends at Kings seeds, you now have the seeds for these wonderful herbs so you can grow your own. And it’s so easy.

Start planting your seed in the spring once all risk of frost has passed, and replant more seeds every few weeks until January for a succession of fresh herbs right through to autumn.

You will be able to harvest your herbs about 8 weeks after sowing the seed. Once these herbs flower, they will stop producing new leaves and the flowers will set seed. To extend their season keep picking to prevent flowering. At the end of the season, or once the plants have flowered, let them form seed and then save some of the seed in a clean, dry, labelled paper bag to plant next year.

Growing Parsley Dill and Basil in a Planter Box

This is ideal for a sunny window sill or balcony. Basil seed won’t germinate below 18 degrees celcius and the plant won’t grow well without heat, so unless you live somewhere nice and warm you will need to grow basil in a planter box inside in the spring and early summer, or at least get the seed started indoors ready to plant out a bit later in the season.

Here’s How:

• Fill a planter box or shallow pot with about 20cm of potting mix. Cover with about 2cm of seed raising mix and press flat.
• Sprinkle seeds over the surface about 10cm apart. Cover with a very fine sprinkle of seed raising mix ( about ¼cm).
• Place in a warm sunny spot with a tray underneath. Water gently and keep the soil well watered until the seeds have germinated.
• After 10 to 14 days, young plants should appear in the soil. Water the plants freely taking care that they don’t dry out excessively. ( If you want you can plant your seed more closely in shallow seed trays filled with seed raising mix and transplant your herbs outside once they reach about 6-8cm in height)
• Don’t plant basil outdoors until all risk of frost has passed and the temperatures are over 20 degrees. (Night time temperatures shouldn’t drop below 15°C.)
• After about 8 weeks your herbs should be ready to harvest. Pick outer leaves from parsley plants, feathery stems from dill and the tips of basil plants from each stem. Pick regularly. To encourage basil plants to branch rather than growing on a single stem, after 6 weeks, pinch out the central stem to prevent early flowering. If flowers do start to grow, cut them off.

Growing Parsley Dill and Basil Outdoors

Both parsley and dill seed can be directly planted outdoors from spring through to mid-January. For basil, you’ll need to wait until night time temperatures don’t fall below 15°C. You may find it best to sow basil seed into seed raising mix in a seed tray and plant out about 4-6 weeks after sowing.

Here’s How:

• Choosing a sunny well drained spot, work over a small area of soil (about 60cm-1 metre ) with a fork, mixing in lots of compost.
• Rake flat and sprinkle with a fine layer (about 2cm) of seed raising mix.
• Sprinkle herb seeds over the surface about 15cm apart. Cover with a very fine sprinkle of seed raising mix ( about ¼cm). Water gently. If needed protect from birds with fine mesh netting. Protect from slugs (snails and slugs go crazy over basil and can gobble up the whole crop overnight!).
• Keep the soil well watered until the seeds have germinated.
• Once basil plants reach about 6 weeks pinch out the central stem to encourage branching and prevent early flowering.
• From about 8 weeks, start harvesting your herbs. Pick the tips of the basil plants from each stem, fronds from the stems of the dill and the outer leaves of the parsley plants. Water and pick regularly.
• For a succession of harvests, plant seed again in a freshly prepared patch of soil every 3-4 weeks up until January.
• Leave a couple of plants to go to seed at the end of the growing season and save their seed in a labelled and dated paper bag to grow next year.

Basil, dill and parsley all make great companion plants. Grow basil near tomatoes, plant dill near cabbage, celery, corn, lettuce and cucumber, and parsley next to tomatoes, asparagus, beans and carrots.