Growing season, putting out new branch (5)
I believe the answer is:
sprig
'branch' is the definition.
(sprig is a kind of branch)
'growing season putting out new' is the wordplay.
'growing season' becomes 'spring' (the best time to grow plants).
'putting out' is a deletion indicator.
'new' becomes 'n' (common abbreviation eg NT for New Testament).
'spring' with 'n' taken out is 'SPRIG'.
(Other definitions for sprig that I've seen before include "Small spray of leaves or flowers" , "Small nail without a head" , "Small stem with leaves or flowers" , "Young shoot" , "related to Spike and Brad" .)