Meet The Staff

Sydney B. Stephan, Owner

Owner and Founder, Sydney B. Stephan, has been in the landscape business since high school. He attained the Masters Degree in Horticulture from the University of Wisconsin, Madison in 1973 and wrote garden columns for The Milwaukee Journal and Country Scene Magazine. Mr. Stephan is married with six children, all of whom are active in the family business.

Horticulture Services, as its name implies, was founded in 1989 to fulfill a crucial, but lacking need in Twin Cities commercial landscaping. Earlier in his career, Mr. Stephan had been working as a foreman for a large commercial landscape construction firm. After installing a quality landscape, he would often see the health of the plantings quickly decline due to a lack of professional management. This was especially obvious with the trees, shrubs, and perennials on office campuses and town home associations.  Now, with Bravo! Design, Syd’s experience is utilized in the creation of outdoor living spaces that are more easily manageable by homeowners and residential landscape maintenance companies.

David Stephan, Landscape Designer

Dave has been employed by Horticulture Services, LLC since his youth. He received his Bachelors Degree in Landscape Design from the University of Minnesota, and is now working full time as lead landscape designer for Bravo! Design.  Dave has experience working with planning changes to existing landscapes due to aging plants or poor original design.  He also specializes in conceptualizing artistic and functional designs.  His interests are in architecture and blending useable indoor and outdoor living spaces. Dave and his wife live in Woodbury.

Jeff Wilson, Hardscape and Construction Supervisor

Jeff was raised on a farm in northwest Iowa where he developed his interest in the outdoors. Jeff received his Bachelors Degree in Education and his Masters Degree in Organizational Leadership from Bethel University. Jeff’s Primary role is to serve as an account manger where he interacts with customers to meet the unique demands of each individual site. Jeff specializes in working with sites with mature landscapes, and the construction and renovation of new and existing hardscapes. In this role Jeff deals with many of the challenges inherent to a maturing site both in regard to plant overgrowth and adverse construction situations. Jeff also serves as primary estimator and technology coordinator. Jeff and his family live in Columbia Heights.

Catherine Nickelson, Horticulturist

From a young age, Cathy has been involved in the family business. Cathy received her Bachelors Degree in Horticulture from the University of Minnesota. Cathy now serves as Nursery Manager, Seasonal Color Coordinator, and Horticulturist for the company. Cathy’s skills are most prominently displayed in the seasonal color plantings that she plans for many of our sites. Cathy and her family live in Scandia.