Oz Pebble is a Queensland-based wholesaler of decorative pebble, soil and mulch.
Pat Foley had a concreting business on the Sunshine Coast that he started back in ’93. It was there that he found himself first playing with pebbles as he began specialising in exposed aggregate finishes. Seeing a niche in the market that he was interested in, Pat began scouting for some original supplies. “There weren’t too many stones around back then,” he continued, “so I went out looking for other pebbles.
“I found stuff in Melbourne and Sydney and all over Australia. I built some bins in my backyard and then we mixed these stones in from all over the place – a bit of this and a bit of that in different ratios. I had 12 to 15 varieties of stone that we could do driveways and paths out of. I was the only one you could get the stones off.”
Like a master chef, Pat was fascinated by the different ingredients out there and enjoyed concocting his own recipes through experimentation. He was literally reshaping the industry. “I was finding nice, different-coloured stones that were sharp, and that needed to be rounded,” he further explained. “So I’d put it in a cement mixer and tumbled it to see how long it took to smooth up.
In the end I came up with something different that no one else had. It was unique.”
Just after the turn of the century Pat was offered a contract with a large Sunny Coast concrete supplier to look after their pebble division. He left his backyard operation and set up a professional stone supply plant at one of the company’s quarries. From that steppingstone (sorry, it was too irresistible), things only grew bigger.
“Within 12 months we were also supplying Brisbane and the Gold Coast,” he boasted. “We’d gone from 1000 tonne a month to 4000 tonne a month.”
After his contract ran out, entrepreneur Pat broke free and moved south to start his own company, Oz Pebble. “I bought 105 acres over here at Gatton,” he said of the venture. “I cleared the place and set up the business on 30 to 40 acres.”
Pebbles are the perfect addition to create a unique and timeless garden feature. Pat’s Oz Pebble specialises in the supply of quality tumbled and natural Australian decorative pebble to architects, landscapers, homeowners and retail outlets across Australia. They can supply a product to suit your every stone requirement.
Oz Pebble’s extensive range includes limestone, sandstone, basalt, silica, quartz and volcanic scoria in a variety of colours, shapes and sizes. These are all natural products that will provide texture and colour to your garden, water feature, driveway, path, polished concrete floor and are the perfect complement to paving.
Pebbles have always been a popular choice for homeowners because they are very low maintenance and do not break down over time.
They are environmentally friendly; none are taken directly from rivers. Most are a by-product from quarrying, which they tumble on site at their yard just outside Gatton.