Bushes, perhaps, in dense strip in need of cultivation (10)
I believe the answer is:
presidents
'bushes perhaps' is the definition.
(George H W Bush and George W Bush)
'dense strip in need of cultivation' is the wordplay.
'in need of cultivation' indicates anagramming the letters.
'dense'+'strip'='densestrip'
'densestrip' with letters rearranged gives 'PRESIDENTS'.
'in' is the link.
(Other definitions for presidents that I've seen before include "eg Washington, Adams, Jefferson" , "leaders" .)