Are they worth seeing at this time of the year? Or should we spend our time elsewhere?
The Vatican Garden tour is a complete waste of time. I did it a couple of weeks ago and the lady was incredibly hard to hear and there was only 10 in our group. It took way to long and many left the group early to get into the museum. I wish I had because it wasited my time and money. I am fond of gardens and I don't know why they call it a garden tour because it looked just like shrubbery to me no flowers or anything like that. Its more of a tour of the grounds than anything.
Spend your time elsewhere!
The best way to see the Vatican Gardens just may be from above. Walk to the top of the cupola of St. Peter's Basilica. From there, you get an amazing view of Rome and the Vatican Gardens.