The paper takes 777 academic papers on the construction of medicinal botanical gardens in the CNKI database from 1980 to 2021 as the research object to better understand and guide the construction of medicinal botanical gardens. It uses the scientific knowledge visualization software CiteSpace to analyze the content of the literature. Highlighted keyword monitoring and analysis to sort out the development overview, research hotspots, research frontiers, and existing problems in this field. The results show that: (1) The literature in this area is concentrated in 2010-2020. (2) Research institutions are primarily focused in universities and botanical research institutes, but there are few collaborating institutions. (3) Research on the construction of medicinal plant gardens focuses on medicinal plants, medicinal botanical gardens, planning and design, gardens applications, and landscaping. (4) Hierarchical analysis, Chinese medicine culture, germplasm resources, and landscape design have been the research focus in constructing medicinal botanical gardens in recent years. However, current research on the construction of medicinal botanical gardens suffers from inadequate communication and incomplete application. Therefore, there is a need to expand research on medicinal botanical gardens in recreation, landscape, education, and sustainable development.