Don't cut it all the way to the ground, but yes, you can cut the stalk. That will help it to get bushier, and ideally you'd be pinching it back from early on.

The general rule with harvesting herbs is not to take more than 1/3 of a plant at a time.

Dill is also an annual so at some point it will, usually sooner rather than later, cease to produce leaves and will bolt. Just plant dill in waves if you want a steady supply of dill weed.

BTW, let a few plants bolt. The green seed heads can be used in pickles. The dried mature seed is also used in the kitchen or can be resown in the garden.

FataMorgana

I've had some amount of luck with slowing the bolting process by cutting back the stalk, so that side stalks develop. Not a huge amount, and not indefinitely, but enough that I keep doing it every year.

I didn't know that it was the green seed heads that were used in pickles! I'm not much of a pickle fan, though.

I've had really good luck with allowing the dill to re-seed itself in the garden (or via the compost).

thanks a lot all of you for your helpful suggestions.

I was thinking about making dill pickle this season. When pickling, is it the preferred method to include the seeds? If the plant bolts does that dramatically effect the flavor of the dill and consequently the pickle?

There are alot of different types of pickle recipes but when it comes to dill I would suspect the fresh green dill heads are the preferred method to include the seeds. The flavor of the green seed heads would be different than the dry seed or pre-bolt leaves.

Find a recipe. It will tell you what and how to add it.

FataMorgana