Professional master's students in landscape architecture constitute an important force in the field of human settlement environment construction in China, and enhancing innovative practical ability is their core educational objective. In view of the current problems existing in some local colleges and universities, such as significant differences in students' professional backgrounds, insufficient connection between the curriculum system and practical links, and relatively scarce practical platforms. In line with the trend of the landscape architecture industry's digital transformation, the Little Garden landscape renovation practice project of the School of Architecture and Art Design at Henan Polytechnic University serves as a carrier. The study introduces the Conceive-Design-Implement-Operate (CDIO) engineering education concept and constructs a progressive training pathway for innovative practical ability comprising situational perception, scheme innovation, technical implementation and value internalization. Graduate students participated in the entire process of site investigation, scheme design, construction implementation, and post-construction operation and management, while integrating digital tools such as UAV surveying, Landscape Information Modeling (LIM), and digital design techniques, thereby achieving deep integration of digital technology with practical teaching. Practice has shown that this model not only significantly enhances students' innovative practical ability and team collaboration skills, but also notably strengthens their capacity to analyze and solve complex engineering problems in digital contexts, while simultaneously achieving the organic integration of ideological and political education with labor education. This model is grounded in the campus's small micro-space, constructing a complete engineering life-cycle teaching scenario within a limited spatial scale, and forming a low-cost, implementable, and easily replicable practical teaching pathway. It can serve as a reference for similar institutions in cultivating innovative practical ability for professional master's degree students in landscape architecture and related disciplines.