I can picture some kind of clogs with oversized soles and long cone-shaped spikes coming out of the bottom...a gardener's version of snowshoes. Something that would distribute weight over a larger area than your average shoe sole, and aerate the soil, too, instead of simply compacting it.

Of course I'd probably trip in them and end up face down in the pansies.

I think mostly it is just about making some paver paths through those areas and then sticking to them. I have a few beds that are like that and I had to put pavers down so I could get in there. I didn't think about compacting the soil though. duh! I just worried about stepping on the plants.

In a vegetable garden, they recommend using a wide board laid on the ground to stand on....I do that quite often to keep my feet out of the mud and to save the soil.

I don't have enough space between plants for boards or stepping stones. So, I tiptoe in the garden and it does get compacted while I weed. I see earthworms all the time, so maybe they are keeping it tilled up and aerated enough.

Cameron

I keep adding as much compost and mulch as I can make altho in this pure clay I'll be doing it til the end of time and still not have loose soil everywhere. Mulch does help I think to prevent compaction. It's kind of like a layer of insulation.

I use stepping stones and even just flat stones quite a bit and try not to garden in wet conditions. Sometimes it's unavoidable and if not done too often I doubt there's much harm done. If you are concerned just use a garden fork to loosen wherever you stepped. Altho I'm always concerned about forking into a worm when I do that but I think it's better than a shovel for many gardening purposes.

My dad always had an old 6-foot-long plank that he kept on hand to lay down between the rows of the vegetable garden to walk on. However, I have an old pair of soccer shoes -- with the spikes on the bottom-- and I wear those when I am working deep inside one of my flower or veg beds. The spikes seem to help keep the soil from getting too compacted.

Pre-planned paths with pavers/stepping stones would be ideal, but I always seem to underestimate how much things will fill in and spill over when I'm doing the spring cleaning.

I end up using a modification of gldno1's idea: ~18" long scraps of 1x12 or 1x14 pine shelving which were poorly sawn, too warped for construction projects. They're wide enough to distribute weight, but small enough to tuck in beneath irregular plantings.

You know, I was wondering about this very same topic, and was even going to post a question on it myself.
Last year there was something on a gardening show (It might have been P. Allan Smith's show or something like that). Whoever was hosting said that he never walks in the beds after it has rained out because it causes compaction. I don't doubt this is true, but I still think it is rather impractical at the same time. I would end up not weeding for the entire month of April. I can maybe see this in areas that do not get lots of rain, but otherwise...

I think after (and during!) a rainshower is the perfect time to weed. They come up so easily. Whenever I weed I always try to give the spade a good turn under the soil to loosen things up.
CMK

I am like cameron and glad to hear it. I have no place for paths and don't plan on any. I just tiptoe and hop and hope for the best. c