Police search of garden wasted time (7)
I believe the answer is:
dragnet
'police search' is the definition.
(I've seen this before)
'garden wasted time' is the wordplay.
'wasted' is an anagram indicator.
'time' becomes 't' (abbreviation).
'garden' anagrammed gives 'dragne'.
'dragne'+'t'='DRAGNET'
'of' acts as a link.
(Other definitions for dragnet that I've seen before include "hunt for suspect" , "Granted, this may be an organised system of gathering in" , "Fisherman might have one" , "Systematic police search for wanted person" , "Granted (anag.); police search" .)