grass growing through shrubs

[CurlyhairedAssassin]

You know if you've got a shrub and really long grass is just growing all through it, am I ever going to be able to get rid of the grass without digging up the shrub itself? Grass seems to be rampant in our garden - everywhere but the lawn!

Pull out as much of the rogue grass as you can, line the base of the shrub with lots of newspaper then mulch heavily with eg chipped bark.

So the mulch/newspaper kind of kill any bits of grass that you haven't managed to pull out? We've tried to pull out the grass in the past, leaving some strands left, but it just spreads like nobody's business and before you know it, it's as bad as it ever was.....[sigh]

The newspaper and mulch would stop any light getting to the grass and it would struggle to thrive but moisture would not be blocked. The newspaper rots eventually but a good mulching would last at least a couple of years and stop the long grass growing through the shrubs.

If you did not mind using chemicals then carefully spray the area with Roundup and then mulch but don't get any on the leaves of the shrubs.

You're a star, Pumphrey! Thanks so much.