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Spacing

How far apart to plant courgettes, pumpkins and squash

The short answer

Plant courgettes at least 90cm apart: each needs about a square metre. Bush pumpkins and squash also go 90cm apart, and trailing varieties 1.5m apart. A standard 2.4 × 1.2m raised bed holds two courgettes.

One courgette plant looks lost in a square metre in May and fills it by July. This is the family where most first-year growers plant too close.

The spacing

Courgettes, pumpkins and squash: spacing in the row and between rows
CropIn the rowBetween rowsSource
Courgettes90cm each wayGrid, same both ways(RHS)
Pumpkins and winter squash (bush)90cm each wayGrid, same both ways(RHS)
Pumpkins and winter squash (trailing)150cm each wayGrid, same both ways(RHS)

How many fit in a bed

Worked out with the same method as the plant spacing calculator, for three common bed sizes.

Courgettes, pumpkins and squash: plants per bed
Crop2.4 × 1.2m bed1.2 × 1.2m bed3 × 1.2m bed
Courgettes213
Pumpkins and winter squash (bush)213
Pumpkins and winter squash (trailing)112
Plants that fit at the published spacing, half a spacing in from each edge. Tap a number to see the rows drawn out.

Why this spacing

  • Large, vigorous plants. Courgettes need about a square metre of ground each.(RHS)
  • Bush types are compact only by comparison: they still take up at least one square metre.(RHS)
  • The same spacing for pumpkins and winter squash.(RHS, RHS)

Short of room

  • Train trailing stems around in a large circle, with short canes to hold them in place.(RHS)
  • Or cut off stems that stray beyond their bounds.(RHS)

Put your beds on a plan, free

Add each bed with its size and what is growing in it. Vercro draws the plan to scale, keeps the record, and shows what each empty bed could take next.

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Where this comes from

Every spacing figure comes from the crop's RHS grow-your-own page, or Garden Organic where RHS gives none, linked beside the figure. The Vercro app's catalogue holds no spacing, so none of these numbers come from it. Reviewed 19 September 2026.