Well, I've always thought that herbs are easy to grow! Many of them can be thought of as weeds, you know! It's only the ones we really, really want which don't do so well, isn't it? Keen an eye on that oregano - it could easily spread in all directions, far and wide.

Anyway, you're doing something right, so get yourself some more herbs! I think they're beautiful in the garden, as well as being useful.

To stop the spread of dill, remove all the seed heads before they start to form and flower. Here, I have it coming up in cracks in my concrete steps as well as in the cement cracks on the patio. A large area next to a small apple tree, above my saffron crocus too. Its over 4 feet tall now and most is starting to form the flower/seed heads. I let it remain if I want more in the same area the next year, but pull up any of the plants I don't want to grow in that location again. I pluck off all the dill weed and dry it in a dehydrator. Crumble, then place in a quart canning jar and pull a vacuum on the jar. It lasts me a whole year..

I guess my problem is not cutting off before they seed I really like the flowers. Maybe I'll just let a couple flower where I don't mind having more come up

My dill comes up in places well over 10 feet away from the rest. Its carried there by air, and water. One interesting thing about dill, is its seeds can actually survive even if I apply a heavy dose of corn gluten. This product is used to help prevent weed seeds from sprouting. Right now, most of mine is just at flower stage. You can allow them to grow a bit more to the swelled green color seeds. These are great in any dill recipe too. After they start to turn tan color, pluck off all the heads if possible. Don't forget to also harvest all the fern type leaves. To really eradicate it, you can pull up each and every plant and remove what you need, then toss out the rest. Placing the balance in a compost pile will give you another 'dill grove', the following year.

Last year my dill (in a pot) shriveled up and died. This year (also in a pot) it was doing beautifully, and I had cut some to use in potato salad (yum...) but then the swallowtail butterfly caterpillars arrived. I was glad to see them, and if you see caterpillars on your dill it's probably swallowtails. I was anxiously awaiting the pupae and then butterflies, but then I caught him. One of the male cardinals. He went up and down that dill, and even into the parsley where a few caterpillars had moved, and grabbed them all, I guess to feed the chicks. Next year I'm planting seed and hoping for enough dill and enough caterpillars to satisfy me, the cardinals, and the butterfly population.

Don't even MENTION basil seeds. I've got basil coming up in places it's never even been close to in my garden... If it weren't so tasty I'd have to consider it a weed!

My garden is a natural feeding heaven for birds. Two days ago I was planning on picking some of my ripe blueberries. I went out the next morning with bowl in hand, only to find not one single ripe berry was left. I have over 30 blueberry bushes and the birds have just found the few ripe ones. The rest will be gone in no time.
As to dill, you can actually sprinkle seeds in late fall and they will emerge early next spring. Some of mine that came from last fall seeds are as big around as my baby finger. Dill doesn't transplant well, nor does it do well in a pot. Been there, done that.. I never see any basil from a previous year. Its probably due to the fact that I pinch off all the tops before they form flowers. Many herbs are actually weeds, so your dealing with plants that are tough to kill off

I had the same swallowtail caterpillars too. Also lost them to the damned birds. Already told hubby we're caging them in next year. I want butterflys. I'm actually planning on having a whole section of garden dedicated just for them. So we're trying to figure out a way to "cage in" the dill that won't look too bad to protect the little ones.

A cage with one inch openings may help. Some small birds might get in, but if a butterfly can navigate through, it may be fine. Also, I see wire screening used in reinforcing cement. Its a 1 inch wide rectangle about 2-3 inches long as a heavy wire mesh. Its on 2 foot wide rolls at Home Depot. I was going to make a few bird feeders, but found it will rust easily. Ideally, you need plenty of foliage to hide the bugs from the birds. Another help would be to put bird feeders in an area seperated from the flowers for the butterflies.