Managed to get old wife a tree (5)
I believe the answer is:
rowan
'a tree' is the definition.
(type of tree)
'managed to get old wife' is the wordplay.
'managed' becomes 'ran' (I've seen this in another clue).
'to get' is an insertion indicator.
'old' becomes 'o' (common abbreviation eg in OE for Old English).
'wife' becomes 'w' (abbreviation).
'o'+'w'='ow'
'ran' placed around 'ow' is 'ROWAN'.
(Other definitions for rowan that I've seen before include "Tree bearing bright red berries" , "Mountain ash (at Lambeth!)" , "Man" , "Canterbury" , "source of berries" .)