How to Stop Grass From Growing in Your Flower Bed Without Killing Your Flowers

When you spot unwanted grass living rent free in your flower beds, you may be tempted to spray some weedkiller to treat the area. And while that may kill the grass, it’ll also take out your flowers.

Whether you recently planted grass and some of the seed ended up in the wrong spot, or some couch grass weaseled its way between your begonias, here’s how to stop grass from growing in your flower beds (while keeping your flowers alive).

How to prevent grass from growing in flower beds

Instead of having to kill grass that ends up growing in your flower beds, you can prevent it from getting in there in the first place. Here are some options:

1. Mulch the flower beds
2. Introduce groundcover plants, which shade the soil and acts as natural mulch
3. Install landscaping fabric
4. Create a barrier between the lawn and the flower bed using bricks, rocks, or metal landscape edging

How to get rid of grass growing in flower beds

If you already have grass growing in your flower beds, here are a few ways to get rid of it:

1. Pull it out by handIt’s time consuming, labour intensive, and only a temporary fix, but the price is right.
2. Create a sun barrierIt doesn’t look great, but you can cover the grass growing in your flower beds with cardboard or black sheeting to block it from getting any sunlight (and continuing to grow). Leave it on for a month to begin with, then assess your progress.
3. Use a selective herbicideIf you really want to use a weedkiller, opt for one formulated to kill grass, specifically. The label should indicate what type of plant the herbicide targets, but if not, look at the ingredients: Clethodim, sethoxydim, or fluazifop-p will kill grass, but won’t damage flowers and shrubs.