When the  desire to garden hits then I want nothing to stand in my way…except that if the soil is wet, then wait I must. Soil structure is diminished if you cultivate a soil when wet and if you stand on it to work it even a little then you will compact it and do a great deal of damage. Soil structure refers to the way the individual soil particles are arranged in a body of soil. The arrangement of soil particles into larger units is called soil structure. Finer soil particles such as clay particles and humus particles, tend to stick together. And units of soil structure are called peds. A soil with good soil structure would be made up of lots of peds. And a soil with good structure is much more permeable than one without. The peds create channels withing the soil for the water to move in.  When a wet soil, (especially a soil rich with clay particle)s is trampled or cultivated, then the soil becomes puddled or ‘run’s together’ and structure is destroyed. The larger pores within the soil body collapse, and pore space is diminished. Soils need pore spaces for air and water to be stored.

Compost improves soil structure.