Is it possible to kill weeds but not shrubs?

[DotAndBuzz]

So we moved into this house after all the weeds came up in the flower beds (previous owners had already left), so we missed the pre-emergent time to spray for weeds.  One bed, in particular, is a wreck.  Our landscape guy said he'd take care of it (spray something, mulch), but a month later it is completely out of control.  There are well established lilac bushes and some other flowering shrub there, so I want to keep those, but need to destroy everything else.  Is there a magic product I can use to do this?  Round-up? 

ugh, I feel like I'm playing catch-up, and my neighbors are side-eyeing the "shady new homeowners" (aka, us) who can't keep up with the yard.

[treedimensional]

Don't use Roundup. That kills everything. I recommend digging and pulling, but there are more selective herbicides, like Preen.
www.preen.com/products/flowers-trees-shrubs

[Bonita]

Pretty much what treedimensional said - I've found that to be the most effective method.

If it's a good area for it, you may want to put down some landscaping fabric to keep the weeds at bay too!

[auntie]

Nothing is more effective than manual extraction.

I hired a couple kids to weed and mulch my beds. They Preened the beds prior to mulching. I go out one or two evenings a week with a drink and pluck any new growth while it's small. I'm out there to water containers, so it never turns into a huge ordeal. If you wait until it's recently rained, they'll slide right out.

[SusanBAnthony]

Yup, just weed. I find that when you have mature plants filling in all the spaces, you just have to weed once in the spring and then the plants fill in and choke out the weeds. It does suck a lot when you get behind, because once the weeds get out of control they are much harder to get out. And, if they have already gone to seed, there might be lots of new baby weeds after you pull the current ones.

I do what auntie does and pick weeds, water pots, deadhead petunias, and weed the stray weeds a few times a week while the kids are playing out front. Dd is fairly well trained to weed at this point . She only occasionally weeds actual plants, lol.