How do I loosen my garden soil?

You need to hand till, add peat moss and sand to soil

Gardens can be improved by applying and incorporating organic matter, such as compost, well-rotted manure, or peat, into the soil. Work the organic matter into the top 8 to 12 inches of soil.Adding organic matter is the key to loosening hard soils. The mineral particles in hard soils are pressed closely together, leaving little room for the air and water that plants need. Organic matter helps to open up the soil. Earthworms and other soil organisms draw the compost, leaf mulch or other matter down below the surface, breaking up the compacted particles. You can lightly dig organic matter into the top few inches of soil to help speed up the process.Do you walk in your raised beds? it's really bad you are compacting them even more.Although it can be tempting to run a rototiller over hard soil, excessive tillage can actually make the problem worse by destroying organic matter.Buy earthworms,redworms & Nematodes to add to soil. Cover crops help break up hard soils with their roots and by adding plant matter to the soil. Sow cover crops when the soil is bare, such as over winter. Before planting the area with desired plants in spring, dig up the cover crop and bury the plants in the soil. Cover crops include buckwheat (Fagopyrum esculentum), cereal rye (Secale cereale) and crimson clover (Trifolium incarnatum), which are annual plants that naturally die down at the end of their growing seasons.

Hi Marsha. You need to add peat moss, sand and organic matter to the soil. I throw several bags of each into my garden every year. I also add cow manure. Then I till the whole garden. The sand and peat moss will help it become loose. Good Luck!

During autum I used to take my trailer and drive through residential neighborhoods asking the residents for their bags of leaves.They were always glad to get rid of them.they made for great additions to my large composting efforts.The soil addition really paid dividends.the soil gradually became so loose and fertile,you could literally slip your hand into it to remove a potato from it's plant without damaging the rest of the plant.when we first moved there our next door neighbor,an elderly gentleman,told me the soil was so poor it wouldn't produce anything,but within a couple years I was producing tomatoes,some as large as two pounds.The secret is organic matter,understanding your plant requirements,and attention to your work.