With the commercialization and popularization of light rotor UAVs, photogrammetry has been widely used in the field of 3D real scene reconstruction and engineering measurement due to its high efficiency, flexibility, and low operating costs. This paper first uses CiteSpace to comb through the research and application hotspots of photogrammetry technology in landscape planning and design at home and abroad from 2010 to 2022. Then, combined with the author’s nearly 10 000 hm2 of experience in 3D real scene reconstruction, this paper elaborates on the basic operating principles of drone photogrammetry, the use of full-process software, and application scenarios. The result shows that the forefront hotspots of drone photogrammetry research can be summarized as measurement technology research and application scenario development. The “4D” digital products generated by UAV photogrammetry mainly include Digital Surface Model, Digital Elevation Model, Digital Orthophoto Map and Digital Line Grid Map, and their applications mainly focus on five aspects: high-precision geospatial data measurement, 3D spatial data analysis and visualization, landscape heritage resource protection and utilization, quantitative research on forestry and ecological resources, and construction of engineering system information model. In the future, with the development of emerging information technologies such as artificial intelligence, UAV photogrammetry is expected to support application expansion based on quantitative research, facilitate integrated and efficient workflow in landscape planning and design, contribute to the integration of virtual and real experiences in landscape spatial design, and further promote the digital transformation and development of the industry.