Patrick Soars was one of the founding Members of the TLA. He founded Australian Native Landscapes in March 1971, initially focusing on landscape contracting and introducing innovation. Joined by his wife Sharon in 1976, they undertook specialised projects, like Port Botany foreshore rehabilitation and Kooragang Island reclamation, establishing ANL as a major landscape contractor. The 1980s and 1990s witnessed unprecedented growth, solidifying ANL’s reputation for quality horticultural products and supplying organic soil and mulches for major Sydney projects. In the early ’80s, ANL invested in a new pine bark grading and composting facility at Badgerys Creek, processing over 100,000 m3 annually. In 1990, ANL adopted efficient composting machinery from the US, now producing over 600,000m3 of organic composts annually at the Badgerys Creek site.