Cracked Lawn!!!

We garden on good old Essex clay, bog in winter & concrete in summer!! :rolleyes:
We have had some huge cracks appear in the lawn about 1.5in & various lengths & depths & I was thinking about filling them in with hort grit to improve drainage come winter what do you think?
Helen

 

My soil is just the opposite and I brush compost into the vast canyons that appear in the lawn in an effort to hold the moisture in! I'm sure the grit would help you.

 

I know Essex clay very well - my first garden started with 80foot of compacted lawn in a village outside Southend. You squelched in the winter, and in the summer the fork just bounced off the surface - besides the cracks that opened up heading straight for the nearest plant.

No I wouldn't fill the cracks with grit - I'd keep the grass on the long side, and water, especially in the area of the cracks. If the forecast is right, then rain is on its way but if you are not subject to hose pipe ban, give it a good soaking - autumn and winter is the best time to aerate and incorporate grit or sand to improve the soil. But it will take time to get it to a state where cracks do not appear - in the interim water is the only way. Short of digging the whole lot and starting from scratch.

 

Sounds like you need to do something about the drainage. Good luck with it.