Plant worker beginning to deploy garden tool (8)
I believe the answer is:
mandrake
'plant' is the definition.
(mandrake is a kind of plant)
'worker beginning to deploy garden tool' is the wordplay.
'worker' becomes 'man' (man is a kind of worker).
'beginning to' says to take the initial letters.
'garden tool' becomes 'rake' (I've seen this before).
The initial letter of 'deploy' is 'd'.
'man'+'d'+'rake'='MANDRAKE'
(Other definitions for mandrake that I've seen before include "Naked arm (anag) - narcotic plant" , "Herbal root" , "Plant with medicinal properties" , "A plant; mean, dark (anag.)" , "Exotic plant" .)