Crossword Genius

The 'Garden' once so fruitful (6)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

covent

I'm a little stuck... Click here to teach me more about this clue!

'garden once so fruitful' is the definition.
I don't know anything about this answer so I can't tell whether it can be defined by this definition.

'the' is the wordplay.
I cannot quite understand how this works, but
'the' could be 't' (the is pronounced as a 't' sound in some dialects) and 't' is found in the answer.
The remaining letters 'coven' is a valid word which might be clued in a way I don't understand.
This explanation may well be incorrect...

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for covent that I've seen before include "--- Garden, opera house" , ". . . . . . Garden is London opera district" .)

I've seen this clue in the Evening Standard.
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