There are approximately 55 species of cockroaches in the United States. As a group, they tend to prefer a moist, warm habitat because most are tropical in origin. Roaches can easily hide under pine straw, fallen magnolia leaves, leaf litter, bricks, and in wood
piles. Cockroaches of public health interest tend to live in structures and are customarily scavengers. Man-made cavities include cinder block walls, under concrete stoops and porches, blocked wooden sheds, and rain spouts,
culverts, small aluminum or wall voids in your house. 

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Cockroaches will eat a great variety of materials, including cheese and bakery products, but they are especially fond of starchy materials, sweet substances, and meat products.

Before cockroaches scramble into your house, you should seal entrance ways to prevent their entry. You can apply weather stripping around doors, caulk (or Great Stuff ^TM) around kitchen pipes and cabinets, and screen attic crawl space vents. Inspect your house carefully and try to determine how the cockroaches may be getting inside.

Other good ideas to try to prevent roaches from harboring in you home include: storing pet food in sealed containers; removing uneaten food in pet dishes; removing fresh pet poop, fallen fruit, food scraps around trash bins will also play a role.

Many hiding places near homes like sheds, wood piles, and other storage piles (bricks, lumber, etc.) should be moved as far away from the house as possible. If they are not very important, you may wish to dispose of them completely.

Alternatively, wood could be stacked on frame, keeping the wood off the ground and making the wood pile drier and less suitable to cockroaches.

To learn more about German Roaches, check out our article:
Germans are the Toughest!