Squash

I am planning a small garden. Have an 8x8 bed boxed in with landscape timbers. Should I plant squash outside the box? Suggestions for poles to lift like tomatoes. How do squash grow? Like a vine that spreads on the ground or tall?

They're a vine that can spread on the ground or on a trellis. A trellis will save space though and keep the squash off the dirty ground. I mean really you can put any ground vine on a trellis. I have a watermelon vine going 9 feet straight up to the top of my trellis and halfway back down. I'm going to make cloth hammocks out of cheesecloth to support the fruit.

For a trellis the cheapest way is to drive 2 poles deep into the ground so they're nice and secure, then tie one of those cheap bagged trellis nets to it. If you want something that looks nicer and don't mind the cost, you can buy solid wooden trellises.

Assuming all the good soil is in the 8x8 box, I'd plant the squash in a row at the edge of the box and put the trellis right next to the box. You could also put rows trellis anywhere in the middle of the box, but you'll have to drive the poles deep in the ground if you want them to be secure. Garden soil is too loose to hold them well.