So you just bought a home and moved your family into the new neighborhood with better schools, and now it is time to get to the fun lawn work. Well, according recent study from journal Environment International, plant more trees and worry less about the grass!

It is known that green space fosters better development for children than pavement. However, researchers from Barcelona Institute for Global Health found that trees are associated with better childhood development than lawn space.

The researchers analyzed a cohort data of approximately 27,530 children from the Vancouver metropolitan area. Data for the cohort was collected from 2000 to 2005 where children were followed from birth to the age of 5. Also teachers rated the children’s physical health, well-being, social competence, emotional maturity, communication skills, and language and cognitive development. The researchers then used high-spatial resolution land cover map to determine areas were either predominantly vegetation or pavement, and for vegetation areas were consisted of more trees versus grass.

Overall, they found, as expected, areas of greater vegetation had children with the highest developmental scores. Additionally, tree-filled areas did even better than grass and pavement areas.

Plant trees and don’t worry about the grass…maybe just a little worry about the grass but focus on the trees.

I Jarvis et al. The influence of early-life residential exposure to different vegetation types and paved surfaces on early childhood development: a population-based birth cohort study. Environment International. DOI:10.1016/j.envint.2022.107196