Wild ground in home counties offers cover (7)
I believe the answer is:
sheathe
'cover' is the definition.
(to sheathe something is to cover it)
'wild ground in home counties' is the wordplay.
'wild ground' becomes 'heath' (heath can mean a moor).
'in' means one lot of letters goes inside another.
'home counties' becomes 'se' (Home Counties in the South East of England).
'heath' put inside 'se' is 'SHEATHE'.
'offers' is the link.
(Other definitions for sheathe that I've seen before include "Cover in case" , "Put (a sword) into its holder" , "Protective cover, for sword say" , "Put (a sword) it its cover" , "Put into scabbard" .)