I’m not one to chastise anyone for having a large expanse of green lawn. But you should know that keeping a large expanse of green lawn goes against Mother Nature in just about every conceivable way. Here are a couple of examples: Mr. Lawn King goes to great lengths to keep just one species of plant — grass — growing in his meadow-like setting; Ma Nature on the other hand, left to her own devices, will grow a wide variety of native plants (and weeds, in an urban setting). Mr. Lawn King forces his lawn to remain green year-round. Ma Nature lets her grass go dormant and brown in the dry months.

Maybe you’re ready to convert more of your lawn to vegetable production. Maybe you’re tired of mowing and watering and fertilizing. Maybe you want to convert lawn to native plants or even renovate a weedy lawn. If so, here are three organic methods that can be used. Some are quicker and some are easier, but all have proven effective.

Sheet composting. This method, by far the easiest, consists of just covering your existing lawn (or weed patch) with organic material that acts as a barrier to weeds, grass, or both. I’ve had good success by covering lawn in the fall or early winter with a minimum of six to eight inches of leaves after the grass (or weeds) have been mown or line-trimmed down as short as possible. Starved for light, the grass will slowly die and you will end up with some pretty nice soil that is full of organic matter, supplied by the now-dead grass stalks and roots. I recommend leaving the leaves in place for the whole first year and using this area to grow vegetables that are planted every 18 to 24 inches, such as tomatoes and broccoli. For these veggies, it is easy enough to just clear away a small opening through which you can prepare the soil for planting. Later on, when virtually all the grass has been killed, you can confidently remove the leaves without the fear of too many weeds and grass sprouting.

You can make this method much more complicated by putting manure or grass clippings down first, then up to eight layers of newspapers, then leaves, then a top layer of wood chips. But take it from me — the first method works well enough.

Multiple-till and irrigation. If you have a big area to convert, this method can be quite effective — and not too much of a hassle — IF you already have (or have access to) a rototiller. If you have to rent one, you’ll have to pay for it and transport it home not once, but several times. But know this: even though I have a rototiller, I use it only as a last resort. Rototilling is very hard on soil structure.

Here’s the method: The area is first covered with compost (and other amendments if needed) and then rototilled. You must make sure the soil is dry enough to work, because tilling soil that is too wet can make clods that are very hard to work out later on. After the first tilling, water the area (if the rains don’t do it for you) to stimulate the growth of any seeds present. After perhaps one to three weeks, till the area more shallowly to destroy the sprouted seeds. This process should be repeated at least once more (more often is better) until most (but never all) of the seed reserves have been depleted. Be forewarned that rototilling invasive grasses such as crabgrass or quackgrass can chop up the roots and new plants can — and usually do – sprout up from the pieces. I’d stay away from this method if those grasses are present.

Sod Cutter. This method, which is the quickest, involves slicing off the top layer of the lawn, leaving the ground underneath bare. If it is left bare for too long, Ma Nature will most assuredly plant something for you — and it’s likely that her choices will not be what you would choose. (Do I have to spell it out for you? She will plant WEEDS!)

If you have a small area of lawn to be removed, you can use a spade to cut out the top two inches of sod, but for larger jobs you’ll probably want to rent a sod cutter. These machines are heavy, but you can remove a lot of sod in a short period of time.

What do you do with the sod? Stack the pieces of sod — grass side down — in an out-of-the-way place; cover it with a tarp or other weed block material that will limit light. After a period of time (maybe one to three years), you will have nice crumbly soil that is rich in organic matter. Use it to make raised beds, fill in low spots or spread it over your existing beds. It should be weed free by now.

Removing lawn is a bit of work, all right. But in the long run, even taking care of a modest-sized garden is not as much work as trying to have a green, weed-free lawn year-round!

Glen Andresen hosts “The Dirtbag,” heard every second Monday at 10:30 a.m. on KBOO 90.7 FM. He tends his bees on a 3/4 acre organic garden at a retreat in Eagle Creek. He also coordinates Metro’s Natural Gardening Program. Comments and questions may be sent to glen@pacifier.com or c/o The Portland Alliance.