Question about trees attracting roaches and pest control company recommendations (Austin: rental, houses)

[BlueSkies567]

If you have a lot of trees on your property, does that necessarily mean that you will get those big roaches inside your house, or is it just if the trees are overhanging the roof? I've heard that roaches live in oak trees....is is just oak trees or do they live in all trees?

Can anyone who does have a lot of trees on their property, recommend a pest control company you've been happy with that is effective at keeping roaches outside and not inside? Found a nice rental house in southwest Austin but there are a lot of oak trees in the yard and overhanging the house and not sure if pest control would be effective in that situation or not.

Appreciate any advice!

[scm53]

We live SW, have plenty of oak trees, and have never had a roach in our house. We use ABC, but we also get the oaks cut back about every two years where they don't droop over the house.

[gentlearts]

If you live in the south, you will get them in the house every so often. We get about 6 a year, and usually they're dead when we see them. I doubt if trees have anything to do with it. I thought they lived in hidey holes around the foundation, and are forced in when there has been a lot of rain.

[CptnRn]

They don't really live in the trees for the most part, they generally live in the tree litter on the ground. They are not hard to control, I do not have regular pest control treatments at our house and I have only killed one small roach inside the house in the last year. And I have lots of trees in the yard and often have to trim them back so the branches don't rub on the shingles.

This website has some good information as well as information on how to control them.

About Tree Roaches | eHow

[capcat]

In our previous home, we were told that our trees were the problem. However, we have no roaches in our current home, even though the lot is filled with large oak trees and branches that overhang the roof. I tend to think that the problem we had at the first home was that it was pier and beam foundation (plus a deck as a back porch) and our current house is on a slab. Before we moved in 7 years ago, we had our current home treated by the same company. Nothing since.

[sxrckr]

I had the problem in one home -- figured it was because the home was older and maybe had cracks/crevices I didn't know about they were getting in from outside.

[capcat]

I should add though, that both our homes were built in the 50's, the first in 1955 and this one in about 54. So for us, age of the home didn't appear to be a factor.

[CarnivalGal]

Way back in college (in San Marcos) they were everywhere outside our house. Our landlord was great about having people come out and spray (which is why they stayed outside), but at night they were literally all over the porch, the outside of the door, and the side of the house. Since the pest control people never came out at night, they didn't really see the magnitude of the problem. But our landlord stayed vigilant and it was eventually tracked down to an infestation of a huge oak tree in our neighbor's yard. There was a 6 foot privacy fence separating our houses, and the tree only hung over it by about a foot. I graduated and moved out shortly after the problem started, so I'm not sure how it was ever resolved. But they can infest trees. Usually it is palm trees, however.

I've never had another experience like that. But we see them occasionally here, usually in the garage. I'm a firm believer in quarterly pest control, so I'm sure that helps. We've used J & J Pest Control for years and been really happy with them. BTW, your landlord should probably be taking care of this. Have you checked with him/her?