scales = "free" has no effect on facet_grid

Question

I want to plot data depending on season and month. The dataset-size varies, thats why I want to use the parameter scales = "free" .

cp <- coord_polar(start = -((dirres/2)/360) * 2 * pi, dir = 1) 
cp$is_free <- function() TRUE

plot <- ggplot(data = data, aes(x = dir.binned, fill = spd.binned)) +
  geom_bar() + 
  cp + 
  facet_grid(Season ~year, scales = "free_y")  +
  theme(strip.text.x = element_text(size=8, angle=75),
        strip.text.y = element_text(size=12, face="bold"),
        strip.background = element_rect(colour= "white", fill= "#CCCCFF"))  +
  scale_x_discrete(drop = FALSE, labels = c("N", "NE", "E", "SE", "S", "SW", "W", "NW"))  +
  theme(text = element_text(size = 22))  +
  theme(panel.spacing = unit(0.5, "cm"))  +
  theme(axis.title.x = element_blank())  + 
  theme(axis.title.y = element_text(vjust = 4))  +
  theme(legend.position = "right")  +
  theme(plot.margin = unit(c(3,3,3,3), "cm"))

results in:

How could I make the data from row "Summer" visible?

Answer 1

facet_grid enforces all facet plots to have the same y axis per row and the same x axis per column. This is why it's called a grid. You have to use facet_wrap(Season ~ year, scales = "free") instead to allow having separate y axes for each facet.