Parties of Americans do extensive gardening job in SE England? (8)

I believe the answer is:

hoedowns

'parties of americans' is the definition.
(US term for a social gathering)

'do extensive gardening job in se england?' is the wordplay.
I cannot quite see how this works, but
'do' is present in the answer.
'england?' could be 'e' and 'e' is found in the answer.
This may be the basis of the clue (or it may be nonsense).

I've seen this clue in The Times.

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