Don't replace the soil.

Instead, when you decide to rennovate the bed, dig out the plants, then dig in at least 2 inches of compost.

The digging will be relatively easy if the soil is evenly moist -- not wet nor dry.

Better yet would be to then mix in another 2 inches.

Finally, replant, water thoroughly, and watch the plants thrive.

jean001 - I can't dig out the plant beds, I am in a wheelchair. I would like to have a recommendation to put some kind of material over the soil hoping it will soften it up.

plaz, try mulching heavily between the plants and give it a good watering. Not only will the earthworms break it up for you, but it will retain moisture in the bed. If there's a crust on top, break it up a little, since a new bed is probably not compacted very deep unless someone has been walking on it. =^,,^= diana

jean001 has given good advice. To plant in amended holes in compacted soil is not the way to go. As an octogenarian there are many things I can no longer do myself and have to have done for me. Al

I would add several inches (at least) of an organic mulch that is readily decomposed and serves as a food for worms and other small creatures. Composted manure, grass clippeings, etc. In effect, mulch with the kind of stuff you'd put on a compost pile. This material will be worked into the soil by small soil creatures and eventually improve the soil. another choice is to plant something with strong roots, perhaps a cover crop like buckwheat, oats, etc. that will die and not create a long term weed problem.

Working gypsum into ground is supposed to loosen up compacted clay soil. If you can't do that, you might get some liquid soil penetrant (one brand is called Liquid Gypsum) that you can mix with water and pour on. I was told that would help. It will allow water to penetrate deeper, or so it says on the labels.

It was said: "Working gypsum into ground is supposed to loosen up compacted clay soil."

Yes, that works.

But *only* if the reaction for the compaction is excess sodium. And only a professional lab test can tell you that.

To create soil that resists compaction and improves the tilth there is no chemical substitute for vegetative matter in the soil. Because much of the vegetative matter breaks down relatively fast, especially in hot weather locations, it must be continually added, preferably in the form of compost. Al

When I first starting tearing out the lawn and the severely compacted soil for a drought tolerant flower garden, I did some research on gypsum. In effect, it's an East coast solution, and is ineffective in our Western soils. Stores carry it because people ask for it - by the time you incorporate it into the dirt, it's false to assume the gypsum made the difference. ...diana

I dont know where you live or what you have access to. Your best bet is to get some STRAW. If you live in a rural area, you might ask a local rancher for some of his horses old droppings which is mixed in with the straw (dont get HAY - to many weeds) You may be able to contact the local humane society if you dont live in a rural area, Ask the humane society if you can have the rabbit droppings - as long as they dont use kitty litter, if they do use kitty litter ask if they have any goats or horses, and see if someone can help you by filling a couple of buckets full. Placing this matter around your plants will act as a mulch and will help loosen your soil. Reapply every month if you can

+1 for a good mulch and keeping it just a little moist. Give if a couple of months and you will see some results already. Give it a year and you will be amazed. Just spread the mulch out and water it down. You can use kitchen trimmings, grass trimmings, leaves, or get a tree trimming service to deliver some from their chipper truck.
good luck
Arthur

Gypsum will literally push salts and other hard "stuff" down deep into the soil.
Leaving the upper layer more freeable. However, if you are in wheelchair, maybe you can get someone to get a power tiller. Or have someone do a good tilling with a fork and add soil amendments like compost. I would avoid grass trimmings as it forms a mat. Use that stuff for the compost heap. I don't like straw or hay mulch. Esthetically it looks bad. And it is just a mulch. You want to really work some good composted material into the soil. Peat is not enough. Plus i'ts acidic. If that's what you want. Uncomposted wood chips are fine for a mulch but that and sawdust used as a soil amendment robs the soil of nitrogen as it decomposes. Raw wood chips and sawdust should be put in a compost bin to decompose.

A word of warning about products claiming to give you gyspum in a liquid form. There is no such thing as liquid formulation of gypsum. Gypsum is calcium and sulfate, which is not a liquid and it's solubility is low. When you apply a product that claims to have gypsum in a liquid form, you are most likely applying calcium chloride. The amount of chloride in the product is pretty high and I've seen that stuff fry plants.

And by the way, gypsum does not "push" anything. jean001 was right in saying that it only helps in situations where excess sodium is the problem. If your salinity is due to elevated levels of something other than sodium, adding gypsum will do absolutely nothing. It does not remove salts, nor does it "un-compact" a soil.

The best way to loosen and improve any soil (with the rare expection of all-organic soils like peats) is to add organic matter. There are many forms of organic matter that have been listed here - yard waste, compost, straw, wood chips, manure - all have advantages and disadvantages. Your problem is finding a way to work the organic matter down into the soil. If you can't till or turn over the soil, then you have to rely either on animals or plants to move the organic matter into the soil. Cover crops like rye grass or oats will grow roots deep into the soil. These roots decompose when the plant dies, adding organic matter to the soil. However, you might not like the look of a thick stand of oats in your garden for the next couple of months, and any cover crop will compete with the other plants you are growing. The other option for moving organic matter into the soil is to place it on the surface and allow worms, insects, etc. to work it into the soil. To encourage this I'd put a layer of easily degraded organic matter on the soil. Compost, grass clippings, manure, straw all fit this category. Over this layer you could add a layer of something longer-lived and perhaps more attractive. Wood chips, bark, etc. are suitable for this. Most of the stuff used for mulch (shredded bark, etc.) break down pretty slowly, but otherwise provide good organic matter for soil building.