Worthless attempt to hug tree (6)
I believe the answer is:
trashy
'worthless' is the definition.
(trashy can mean of poor quality)
'attempt to hug tree' is the wordplay.
'attempt to' becomes 'try' (I've seen this in other clues).
'hug' indicates putting letters inside.
'tree' becomes 'ash' (ash is a kind of tree).
'try' enclosing 'ash' is 'TRASHY'.
(Other definitions for trashy that I've seen before include "Cheap and worthless" , "Cheap - garish" , "Futile" , "Useless" , "Shoddy and worthless" .)