Trellises & Reduction of # of Squares needed ??

Fishtell 4/24/2021, 1:20 pm

The Farmer's Almanac , "Garden Planner" tells me I need to use 4 squares for one Summer Squash. If I put a trellis in one or two of the squares along the fence where these (4) raised beds are, would I still need to use all (4) squares? Same question for all other veggies we are planning to use trellises.

Thanks
Alan from Asheville

OhioGardener 4/24/2021, 1:41 pm

Alan, summer squash are normally bush-type, not vine-type, and they only need 2 squares. So, they don't benefit from a trellis. Last year I planted pole beans on the arbor (trellis), and then planted the summer squash in adjacent squares just over a foot away from the beans. The squash formed nice bushes, while the beans went up and over the arbor.

Fishtell 4/24/2021, 2:13 pm

Good Afternoon Ohio,
Thanks for the response. My wife just said she's not growing summer squash ... I was just using that as an example. She's growing Delicata and Butternut squash. (just a partial list) In general we are having an issue in determining how to plan;

If the Garden Planner software says you need (for example) say 4 squares for a veggie (without a trellis) In general if we use a trellis, can we expect to eliminate maybe 1 or 2 of the 4 squares since the veggies are growing up instead of outward in the raised beds.

Our raised beds will be fully enclosed; about 50% of the bed space will have fencing on the outside and all the middle beds (4) 4x8' will not have any fencing

Hope this make its more clear of what my question was,

Thanks
Alan

OhioGardener 4/24/2021, 7:23 pm

If you are growing the vines vertically, the plants will only occupy the square in which they are planted. Be aware that if you are growing large winter squash, such as Delicata, you will need to provide slings to support the fruit of the plants.

mollyhespra 4/29/2021, 9:08 pm

I've never grown those varieties but squash in general have fairly large leaves, which might shade adjacent squares. Do you have a picture of your garden plan? I'm having trouble visualizing how you're planning on setting it up.

OhioGardener 4/29/2021, 9:21 pm

mollyhespra wrote:I've never grown those varieties but squash in general have fairly large leaves, which might shade adjacent squares. Do you have a picture of your garden plan? I'm having trouble visualizing how you're planning on setting it up.

I don't really have any pictures of the plan. This picture of the arbor was taken early in the season before the arbor got fully covered with plants. You can see the summer squash (bush plants, not vines) in the bed away from the arbor, while there is a tomato plant being trained to go up the arbor.

Trellises & Reduction of # of Squares needed ?? Arbor_19

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