I always plant a couple of dozen hills of summer squash in the kitchen garden and those I mulch. Those in the field no, I don't have time to gather that much mulching material.

I like to use mulch as well. However, since most squash send down secondary roots at the base of each leaf that make the plants more robust, I avoid impenetrable mulches like the black plastic. I prefer to use grass clipping or wood based mulches, but more often than not the mulch I use is merely the tops of weeds that I cut down and leave in place.

Thanks! Also, I was looking at the picture on the back of my seed packet (early white bush scallop) and it says to plant 5 seeds on a hill and thin to 3...so you have 3 plants on one hill? I'm only growing bush squash (8-ball and the white) this year...4 hills would be all I have space for, if the hills are 2' wide...