Crossword Genius

Trees men planted around ponds originally (6)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

maples

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'trees men' is the definition.
'maples' can be an answer for 'trees' (I have seen 'Trees of Canada ' mean 'maples' so perhaps 'trees' could also mean 'maples'). I'm not certain of the 'men' bit.

'planted around ponds originally' is the wordplay.
'planted' becomes 'males' (I can't justify this - if you can you should give a lot more credence to this answer).
'around' means one lot of letters goes inside another.
'originally' suggests taking the first letters.
The first letter of 'ponds' is 'p'.
'males' enclosing 'p' is 'MAPLES'.

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for maples that I've seen before include "(Canadian) trees" , "Trees of Canada" , "MP sale of trees" , "Acers" , "Trees providing syrup" .)

I've seen this clue in The Times and The Sunday Times.
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