Is it possible for you to train them upwards on a trellis or teepee? Not sure what your layout is and if it's a potential solution. I've attached a thread about growing squashes on supports.

Cheers

Here is a link that might be useful: vertical squash

Yeah, but the zucchini is close to the center of one of my garden spaces. And putting up a trellis there would be too close to other plants I think.
Im growing my melons, tomatoes and cukes on a trellis system similar to the one Mel Bartholemew uses.

I've planted zukes too close together, and they don't seem to suffer at all from pruning. In fact, I generally prune all my squashes, especially the vining ones like winter squashes, because they don't always grow in the direction I want them to. I've also grown zukes too close together and not pruned them, and that works too (come to think of it, I always end up planting them too close). We don't seem to have SVB around here, so I couldn't tell you how pruning would affect that.

I always plant mine too close to. No matter how many times I expand my garden I run out of room. I've let them just grow all over each other. It doesn't look pretty and it makes it a little harder to harvest, but it doesn't seem to hurt the plants any. But then we don't have SVB either.

Its not that I planted the zucchini too close to other zukes, it's that I planted the zukes too close to other plants.
It's overtaking my broccoli :(

Ah, okay. I always lose a few plant to that issue too! Wish I knew what to tell you. I just overplant so badly anyway that I let it go. I'd probably end up pulling out whichever plant I would prefer to lose based on how many I had in my garden.
Stacey

I asked a question a few weeks ago about cutting off entire stems, and after a little research it's my understanding that:

1. The SVB does not need you to give him an opening. If he's around he'll get in there naturally.

2. Trimming a stem or two won't harm the plant (though certainly it won't help the yield any).

I, too, had plans to train the squash up a stake or trellis, but discovered I have the bush (not vine) varieties. So that idea is out the window.

I cut two stems off each of my squash plants. But they've still grown so much that they are on top of other veggies. I wound up putting a round protector made out of chicken wire around my eggplant, and the squash seems content to just grow around it. :-)

I know its not good to lop off a whole stem from a zucchini plant. But w hat about just trimming back some of the large leaves in a U shape and leaving a smaller leaf.
Would this hurt the plant?
I guess I planted too closely and my zukes are overtaking a few other things that were too closeby.

I dont want to chop off the whole arm of the zucchini becaue I dont want to invite SVB.

It's fine. Feel free to take off up to 1/3 of the older foliage around the plant. Squash Vine Borers don't need an invitation and will consume the plant whether you cut stems off or not if they want to.