Garden vs Grass help please!

So there is a constant war in my front gardens. Apparently where there are gardens now, there used to be grass (well one of them I know for sure since we did it - DH got tired of trying to mow this one difficult part ). The grass is definitely winning. It took back the one garden we put in, and has practically taken over the garden around my mail box. We have gardeners come right now, so it isn't a big deal to DH, but I would really prefer gardens over grass. Under the windows there is a larger bed. I planted petunias in there this year and put down miracle grow weed preventer. Well whatever dormant grass seed was in there TOOK OFF!! I gave up trying to keep up with the weeding of it. At this point the grass that is there is much larger than my flowers

Now to the point (sorry I ramble). Does anyone know of a way to kill off the grass in these areas (and preferably something not too chemically...we have a lot of wildlife that visit those beds). I would prefer something that won't kill off my perennials if possible as well. I don't mind replacing the mums in the one garden, but I would prefer not to kill my rosebush.

TIA for any help you can give!!

Re: Garden vs Grass help please!

I use Preen. It prevents weeds before they start but you do need to apply it a couple times during the summer. Once doesnt do it for us. It prevents things from germinating, so if you plant seeds you can not put it down until after the seedlings start showing.