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When dill is mentioned, imagination inadvertently draws the image of a giant umbrella plant with fragrant feathery foliage.
Indeed, this culture, which has culinary, decorative and medicinal value, has openwork repeatedly dissected greens, but does not have a medicinal relation to the usual Artemisia abrotanum garden fennel or dill.
A description of the process of growing dill and its photos are not as common as the materials on the agrotechnology of ordinary dill, but the appearance and properties of the crop are no less interesting. Among more than a hundred varieties of wormwood, dill or God's tree, as the plant is called by the people, is distinguished not only by the type of leaves, but also by the fact that it is practically a perennial shrub. Powerful stems of medical wormwood, reaching a height of one and a half, and in the southern regions even two meters, are woody for the second or third, and a thick branching rhizome allows feeding on an extensive crown with a diameter of up to 1 meter.
Dill: photo and description of medicinal, spicy, taste and decorative culture
Dill is well known in many regions of the world. Most likely, the plant comes from the countries of Asia Minor or from the Mediterranean, but today it can be found in the gardens of European countries, where the plant was introduced into culture in 1598.Wormwood was brought to the shores of North America a century later, and in Russia, since Peter the Great, dill has been grown as a medicinal plant.
It is interesting that the dill in its wild-growing form is found in the southern regions of the country, for example, on the Black Sea coast of the Caucasus, as well as in south-west Siberia.
Despite its southern origin and heat-loving nature, medical wormwood is rather unpretentious, and dill can be grown on almost any site. The vegetation of this type of wormwood begins in the last week of April or at the beginning of May, and within a month the plant forms a beautiful openwork crown, which, if necessary, is easily shaped.
Today, gardeners have a variety of dill, as in the photo, with bright green foliage and more traditional for wormwood silvery leaves. The flowering of this species begins in 70–140 days after the appearance of greenery, therefore in the middle band conditions it is not always possible to see paniculate inflorescences consisting of rounded whitish or yellowish flowers.
The seeds of the same wormwood either do not have time to tangle or do not ripen.
Methods of reproduction and planting of dill tree
If other related species are easily propagated by root layers, the rhizome of the dill tree does not produce such shoots, but the shrub is easily grafted, the plants can be divided, and viable cuttings from above-ground shoots.
When in the second half of June, young branches of dill begin to harden:
- cut cuttings from 10 to 15 cm long, with 3-4 interstices;
- for 1.5–2 cm per day immerse planting material in root or heteroauxin to stimulate rooting and growth;
- cuttings are washed and planted in a mixture of one part of humus and two parts of sand, buried by 2-3 cm.
Young plants should be under the film for up to 6 weeks. At this time, a container with rooting cuttings of dill tree is regularly watered and monitored so that shoots do not rot. In the second half of August, seedlings with the formed root system are transplanted into open ground. Usually, to the onset of cold weather, the dill tree, in the photo, is fully acclimatized and has time to give a gain of up to 40–50 cm in height.
If planting material was harvested in the second half of summer, then it is better not to transfer seedlings to the garden, but leave it for the winter on a cool terrace or even in a room. Under cold wintering conditions, plants are watered no more than once every 7–10 days, while wormwood usually sheds almost all the foliage, the growing season stops, and buds form at the anchoring points of the side leaves, which will start growing in spring. Similarly, it is possible to propagate a bush of medicinal wormwood with the help of above-ground cuttings, for which the shoots are tilted to the soil, pinned to the ground and sprinkled.
If there is already a dill on the site, small parts with 3–4 branches and a sufficiently developed rhizome can be separated from the adult bush with a shovel.
If the gardener could get small seeds of this unusual plant, then dill can be grown from them only through seedlings. When dill is grown as indoor culture, fast-growing shrubs must be pruned and actively fed, because during the season the young plant is able to form up to 20 shoots of 75 centimeters length.
Selection of a site for growing dill tree
The area on which curative willow will grow or, as they say in Europe, must be well lit, but protected from the wind. The soil for planting dill should be loose, sufficiently nutritious and neutral. If the soil:
- is acidic, lime or dolomite flour must be added;
- is poor in nutrients; they carry out a digging with the addition of well-rotted organic matter;
- is excessively dense, it is necessary to introduce peat and sand.
It is best to plant a dill tree on the south side of the fence, high perennial vegetation or construction, so that the bushes receive enough light and heat without being hit by the cold wind .
In this case, the crop that can withstand temperatures down to –25 ° C can winter without installing additional shelters. And if the young tops of the shoots are damaged, then during the summer period, the dill tree dates well and quickly compensates for the losses.
How to fertilize dill, and how to care for the culture?
The plant responds well to top dressing and cultivation on fertile soil, therefore before planting dill for every square meter of soil they make:
- 6 kg of organic fertilizers;
- 15 grams of ammonium nitrate and potassium chloride;
- about 30 grams of superphosphate.
In order for the bush to have a place to grow, young wormwood is planted at a distance of at least a meter from the neighboring plants, except when the dill, as in the photo, is used to organize live green borders. Here the distance is reduced by half and closely monitor the formation of the crown and the growth of new shoots.
During the period of acclimatization, the plants are actively watered. Adult bushes of medical wormwood can easily tolerate dry periods, but do not tolerate excessive soil moisture. The soil under the dill is loosened, free from weeds and fallen leaves, and do not forget to fertilize the dill, which in spring and in the second half of summer needs mineral dressing, and organic matter under the plants is brought in the fall.
Useful properties and use of greens of dill
Usually, this crop is almost not interested in pests, therefore, the cultivation of dill does not cause trouble even for beginners. But the bushes reaching 10 years of age will become a good source of greenery, rich not only with essential oils that give the foliage scent of fresh dill, notes of camphor, citrus and even pine needles, but also natural bitterness, coumarins, flavonoids, tannins and minerals, as well as vitamins.
For culinary and medicinal purposes, use the upper parts of the shoots and the young leaves of dill, in the photo, the richest in active substances.
Vegetable medicine of dill in folk medicine is used as a remedy for anemia, parasitic invasions and pains of various nature, herbs are used as a remedy for sprains and bruises, inflammatory processes and disorders of the nervous system. In Germany, where dill is grown along with the usual spicy herbs, foliage in fresh and dried form is added to meat and game dishes, sauces and soups. Greens of wormwood are good in marinades, pastries, vegetable and mushroom pickles. On the shoots and leaves of the wormwood they make alcoholic tinctures and brew tea.
The aroma similar to the smell of dill is preserved only in young leaves, then it becomes more saturated, and the truth of the wormwood predominates in it. When applying this plant for food, it is important to remember that it, like all types of wormwood, contains alkaloids and in excessive amounts can cause health problems.
