R
yan Dinsmore, 34, turns into the
driveway at 8595 Murray Avenue
in Gilroy and pulls his truck up
to a sign that reads “Parking
Designated for Alpine Landscapes.” He smiles,
points to the sign, and shrugs: “My employees
got that for me as a joke.”
Ryan is the owner of Alpine Landscapes,
a commercial landscape company that caters
to Home Owners Associations (HOAs), large
corporate campuses, some larger estates, and
several retail centers. They don’t maintain
small residential properties.
Ryan is home grown. He was born and
raised in Gilroy, played Little League, rode his
bike, built tree houses, played baseball and
graduated from Gilroy High. He’s tall and trim,
has a broad smile, easy manner, and an ath-
lete’s spring to his walk. He lives in Gilroy with
his wife and two kids (3 years, and 3 weeks),
a Rat Terrier and a Goldendoodle—who are
best friends. “My wife has the cats. I have the
dogs,” he says.
When Ryan was a toddler, according to
family legend, he took an early interest in
landscaping, mowing the carpet in his father’s
office with a plastic lawnmower. “When I was
a kid,” Ryan says, “that’s what we did: garden.
And when I got older, my summer jobs were
with my dad’s companies. It’s not what I want-
ed to do.” So, in 2008, he earned a bachelor’s
degree at Chico State in Finance. “I sold loans
for a couple years, and then I thought, well,
maybe I should call my dad.”
Allen Dinsmore, Ryan’s dad, owned
Dinsmore Landscape Co. starting in 1983 and
sold it in 1997. He started Alpine Landscapes
in 1997. By 2010, when Ryan came on board,
Alpine had wound down to about seven
Alpine Landscaping
Land Shapers
Written & Photographed By Craig Lore
56
GILROY • MORGAN HILL • SAN MARTIN
WINTER 2020
gmhtoday.com