College of Landscape and Horticulture originated from Department of Horticulture, College of Agriculture, Yunnan University, which was founded in 1950. In 1973, Department of Tea, Mulberry and Fruit was established in Yunnan Agricultural University, which was renamed as Department of Horticulture in 1979. In 1994, the Department of Horticulture, the Department of Agriculture and the Department of Plant protection were merged to form the College of Agronomy of Yunnan Agricultural University. In May 2001, the College of Landscape and Horticulture was established.

At present, the college consists of three departments: Horticulture, Landscape Architecture and Urban Construction. It has master's degree authorization for primary disciplines of Horticulture, four secondary disciplines for Pomology, Landscape Plants and Ornamental Horticulture, Olericulture and Ornamental Horticulture, and two professional master's degree authorization for Landscape Architecture and Agronomy and seed industry. It has five undergraduate majors: Landscape Gardening, Horticulture, Landscape Architecture, Facilities Agriculture Science & Engineering and Environmental design. Among them, Horticulture is a characteristic major of the Ministry of Education, and Horticulture and Landscape Gardening are the first-class majors at the provincial level.

The college currently has 66 faculty members. Among them, there are 14 professors, 21 associate professors (senior experimentalists), 37 doctoral degree holders, 21 master degree holders, 4 doctoral supervisors, and 25 master supervisors. 15 of them have overseas study experience, including Wageningen University, Laurentstein University, Elmwood College, University of Florida and Cornell University. Among the teachers, there is 1 winner of the Huo Yingdong Young Teachers Fund, 2 Top Young Talents in Yunnan Province, 3 Young and Middle-aged Academic and Technical Leaders in Yunnan Province, 1 chief scientist of the Vegetable Industry System in Yunnan Province, and 3 Young and Middle-aged Academic and Technical leaders in Kunming City. The teaching competition has won 2 special prizes and 1 second prize in provincial teaching competitions.The College has established National Germplasm Resource Bank of Rhododendron, Yunnan Provincial Expert (Gaojunping) Workstation, Institute of Chinese Flower Culture, Key Laboratory of Orchidaceae Research in Universities of Yunnan Province, Innovation Team of Orchid Science and Technology in Universities of Yunnan Province, and Engineering Research Center of Vegetable Seed Industry in Universities of Yunnan Province.

At present, the discipline has plant tissue culture room, cell laboratory, molecular biology laboratory, germplasm resource preservation room, intelligent greenhouse and practical teaching base, covering an area of more than 10000 square meters, including more than 50 mu of practice base and 16 greenhouses and plastic greenhouses；More than 600 excellent varieties of fruit trees, vegetables and flowers are preserved, and the total value of teaching and scientific research instruments and equipment is 11.63 million yuan, covering scientific research such as molecular biology, cultivation physiology, gene analysis and storage physiology, effectively supporting the teaching and scientific research needs of undergraduates and postgraduates.

In recent years, the college has actively taken advantage of Yunnan's rich biological resources and the diversity of climate types, and combined with the development direction of Yunnan Plateau Agriculture, focusing on scientific research and technical promotion on "Yunhua", "Yunguo", "Yuncai" and other characteristic horticultural crops. A series of excellent achievements have been made in the breeding and green and efficient cultivation of new vegetable varieties in early winter, stagger seasons of summer and autumn on the low latitude plateau, the production theory and practice of new characteristic grape varieties and extra late maturing mango, the high-quality cultivation and post harvest preservation of fresh cut flowers, as well as the exploration and domestication of wild vegetables and flowers. In the past five years, 127 scientific research projects have been newly established, including 16 projects of the National Natural Science Foundation, 39 provincial and ministerial projects, 20 horticultural industry system projects and 52 lateral scientific research items, with a cumulative scientific research fund of more than 30 million yuan; published 36 papers included in SCI and EI, authorized 26 national invention patents, approved 1 provincial government consultation report, and published 11 academic works; five new varieties such as pepper and lily have been authorized by the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs of the People's Republic of China, 18 varieties of plateau characteristic horticultural crops have been approved (identified) by Yunnan Province; won the third prize of Yunnan Province Natural Science Award and the third prize of Yunnan Province Science and Technology Progress Award respectively.

Over the past 72 years, the college has trained more than 7000 graduates. At the same time, through 20 years of joint education with Lawrence Stein University, extensive exchanges and cooperation with Cornell, Wageningen and other universities, and international exchanges and cooperation in cultivating talents for South and Southeast Asian countries by China ASEAN education and training center, the college's education has achieved a good international and social reputation.