Welcome to my California Zone 9b April Garden Tour! 🌿 In today’s video, I’m taking you through my cottage-style backyard after living here for nearly 16 years. From edible hedges to fragrant climbing roses, there is so much to see as the garden begins to pop in the warm April sun.
We’ll explore how I maximize a smaller space with vertical gardening, using arbors for Eden Climber roses and grapevines. I’ll also share my tips for growing a “fruit-heavy” garden, featuring my favorite varieties like Bountiful and Sunshine Blueberries, Pink Lady Apples, and Washington Navel Oranges.
Whether you’re looking for garden design ideas, tips on growing roses, or how to manage a vegetable garden that reseeds itself, this tour covers it all. We also visit the “Chicken Garden” to check on our Black Copper Marans and see how the living wall of grapes is coming along!
Highlights of the Tour:
Rose Varieties: See the beautiful blooms of the Wollerton Old Hall and the classic Eden Climber. [01:31]
Edible Landscaping: Learn why I plant different blueberry varieties together for better fruit production. [03:10]
Shade vs. Sun Gardening: How I create a cohesive flow between the shady and sunny sections of my yard. [07:24]
Pest Control & Garden Maintenance: Dealing with hop beetles, snails, and why I let my lettuce go to seed. [10:54]
New Fruit Discoveries: My excitement over the first-ever fruit on my Pink Lady Apple tree! [30:41]
Chapter Timestamps
00:00:00 – Introduction: 16 Years of Garden Evolution
00:00:23 – The Blueberry Hedge: Bountiful Variety
00:01:03 – Rose Tour: Wollerton Old Hall (Apricot Blooms)
00:02:58 – Shade Garden: Sunshine Blueberries & Cross-Pollination
00:04:00 – Shade Garden Design: Hydrangeas, Heuchera, and Coleus
00:05:04 – Color Theory & The “Dusty Miller” Dilemma
00:06:07 – Sun Section: Salvia, Artichokes, and Spirea
00:07:59 – The Herb Garden: Lavender and Edible Accents
00:09:22 – Cousin It Plant & framing the Chicken Garden
00:10:54 – Letting Vegetables Go to Seed for Next Year
00:11:33 – Barberries and Protecting Hydrangea Roots
00:12:31 – Iceberg Roses and Washington Navel Oranges
00:13:43 – The Mysterious Shade Garden: Hellebores & More
00:16:07 – Fragrant Jasmine and the Winter Hot Tub
00:18:14 – The Chicken Garden: Redwood Fencing & Living Grape Walls
00:20:02 – Checking for Eggs with the Black Copper Marans
00:22:21 – Maximizing Fruit: Blackberry Hedges and Japanese Maples
00:24:32 – Snail Troubles in the Garage Seedlings
00:25:41 – My 3 Requirements for Choosing Roses
00:26:46 – Greenstalk Planters and Gardenia Topiaries
00:27:49 – Vegetable Garden: Leeks, Sorrel, and Sugar Snap Peas
00:29:40 – Tomato Arbors and Fig Trees
00:30:41 – The Big Win: First Pink Lady Apples!
00:31:45 – Conclusion: Enjoying April in the Valley
🌱 RESOURCES FOR ZONE 9b GARDENING: To assist you further in your Zone 9b gardening endeavors, here are some of the tools and products that I personally use and highly recommend:
-My Favorite Loppers for making clean, powerful cuts on thicker branches: https://shoplowes.me/3OtLbHZ These are essential for efficiently tackling larger limbs.
-Hand Pruners for making precise and delicate cuts on smaller branches and twigs: https://shoplowes.me/4asJpzr These are perfect for the finer details of pruning and shaping.
-Espoma Organic Tree Tone, a fantastic all-purpose organic fertilizer specifically formulated to nourish your fruit trees throughout the season: https://shoplowes.me/4rtZkDF This will help give your trees the nutrients they need to thrive.
🌿💐 CONNECT WITH ME AND MY GARDENING JOURNEY HERE: 💐🌿
I love sharing my passion for gardening and connecting with fellow plant enthusiasts! You can find me on various platforms and join our growing community:
➡️ Join me on YouTube for more in-depth gardening tutorials and tips: / @rootedhomeandgarden
➡️ Follow my gardening adventures and updates on Facebook: fb.com/RootedHomeAndGarden/
➡️ Discover short, engaging gardening tips and inspiration on TikTok: / rooted.home.and.g
➡️ See beautiful garden photos and daily happenings on Instagram: / rootedhomeandgarden
➡️ Have a question or want to chat? Send me an email at: rootedhomeandgarden@gmail.com
20 Comments
Your garden is beautiful. I loved your excitement for your apples.
Do you have to cage your BB shrubs to prevent the critters eating them?
Love your garden and content. It is so calming and gives me tons of ideas for my own garden. Love from another Central Valley zone 9b gardener.
I’m amazed how much the grapes have grown since your grape pruning video. They must be really happy in that spot!
Im in Sacramento. My mystic spires fill in within a month of planting and flower spring through fall. Constantly. Its become one of my favorite plants
Do you ever let the chickens out? 😟
Hi Melissa, Your Garden is absolutely beautiful. Thank you for sharing. You are such a ray of sunshine. I love the excitement in your voice.😊😊😊Liz
You are so lucky to have shade in your garden. We are also zone 9b Northern California after 10 years at this place we are starting to get some shade.full sun gardens teach you a lot of patience. Your gardens are beautiful love all the colors.
Great wonderful video! Very nice property. I may have missed it but what was the name of that beautiful vine that smells so nice that you have along your fence line?
Hi Melissa ..Very nice video! .Your garden is very beautiful..You have planted beautiful plants and fruits in the garden. The garden looks green.You are taking great care of the garden.Beautiful flowers look captivating.I want to see the garden, .But I am very far from you. Very nice.
Your garden is so beautiful. I wish those roses will grow here in the tropics. I have tried but to no avail.
Hmmm, I am in zone 9a Northern California and I have a Cousin Itt plant too. I love it. However, I planted in a large raised bed on the sunny side of a Canary Island date Palm. It is right under and hanging down gracefully over the wall of the bed. It is 4 years old and now 10' across, 3' high and sticks out about 4'…. I have trimmed it on to keep it back out of the walkway. I just wanted to say if they are happy they can get very large. Not sure how big they can get but I saw the small area you have yours planted (and it looks pretty healthy) so you may get forced to move it to another area where it has more room. Your garden is lovely!!
Oh my gosh Melissa I am just now seeing your Eden climbing rose growing over the chicken coop. It’s stunning!!!😊😊😊
It's funny, when you got to the spot with the dusty Miller, I thought what a great contrast. I think if you added some more of those different color foliages, it would be glorious! And it's OK to take off the tall yellow flowers. 🎉🎉
What kind of metal edging did you use throughout the garden? I’m adding pea gravel pathways and haven’t found a metal edging yet.
I just discovered your channel, your garden is so beautiful, magical and you have a great personality. My favorite area is the chicken coop; it looks absolutely beautiful with the Eden roses and the grapes on the fence. The chicken coop is so beautiful!!!❤❤❤❤ were did you buy it and how big it is? I love, love the front of the coo❤❤❤. I am subscribing right now. See you later, happy gardening. 💐🌺🪻🌻🪴
My Eden climbers are also once-or-twicers.
Angel Face is a very fragrant rose and it blooms all season. It is a workhorse!
Beautiful garden! I especially loved seeing your ginger cat walking around as he is the exact twin of our cat! Bravo!
Good looking blueberries. I was actually in the process of typing up a long recommendation about cross pollination, etc but then later you revealed you had Sunshine Blue, so all good.
Top Hat (a Northern Highbush) is also one you could consider if you get high chill hours and Peach Sorbet which has wonderful coloration; both are semi-dwarves. But I'm probably not the best person to listen to as I have like 20 plants.
This is a great video on pruning from Bill Cline of NCSU which you might be able to use come fall-winter: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E_fglEl9mVo