Bronze fennel

[Fucksandflowers]

Are there any smaller cultivars of this herb does anyone know?

Google says it reaches 6 foot high!
That won’t do in my garden.

I need a smaller variety, or can I possibly just keep pruning it to keep it at the 4 - 5 foot mark?

Also, can it be planted near Dill or will they cross breed?

Not sure about the height but mine is in year 2 and is 4 foot high. I only plant it for the beautiful fronds though

Mine’s never achieved 6 ft! I also grow it in the borders for the fronds, when it seeds the birds get a treat. But you do have to remove rogue seedlings the following year.

mine only gets to about 3 feet and very manageable

Mine also doesn't reach 6 foot (my traditional green fennel does, though).

Having said that... 6 ft might not be as bad as you think in a small garden. Planting lots of small plants will make the garden look smaller. Some carefully placed large plants (especially if you can see through them, like fennel or verbena bonariensis) will draw the eye up, blur the boundary edges and make the garden appear larger.

Just realised you didn't actually say that you have a small garden... that's what I get for posting after a nap!

Thank you everyone, I’m going to buy one and really lovely it will look too 😊

It’s not a small garden but most of the plants I have are pretty low, a great 6 foot tall beast would look pretty out of place.

If you're worried about tall plants looking out of place, you could buy a group of 3 or 5 (odd numbers always look better!) and space them out a little to soften the effect.

...Talking of a beast looking out of place... I recently accidentally on purpose bought a giant fennel (eventually reaches 2-4 m). I'm hoping the rest of my border will establish well before it flowers, otherwise it's going to look ridiculous! Sunflowers may become my friend..