A cover crop of the legume family might also be worth considering. Like clover. I am gonna sow a lot of micro clover (also known as turf clover) this year. I have no experiance with it yet. But it seems like a great thing.
Doesen’t get tallar than 6 inches and doesen’t need to be mowed. Although it can get mowed (wil than stay around 4 inches high)
Fixes nitrogen. Is a perennial. It spreads itself, (stolon) so “heals” damages or empty spots. (although also ecroaches on the edges where you might not want it)
It should keep weeds out reasonable well after it has settled. You can mix it with gras seeds and sow “virgin soil”. If you already have gras, oversowing seems to not work as well or at all.
Although i will need to water more. However this seems like a worthwhile trade-off to me.
And it is not resistant to herbicides (i don’t use those anyway, so don’t care. But if you got acres to weed i can imagine it being an important factor. Also means it’s worth it to do a torough weeding befor sowing.
It is reletivly new/unknown. So is the experiance with it. So consider it bit on the expirimental side instead of a “proven known” thing.
From what i could find it only flowers from the 2e year on. Although the micro clover seems to flower less compared to the taller/larger “normal” “dutch” white clover.
It is also a little slower to settle. Needs more care/patiance the first year.
another intresting cover crop im gonna sow this year is
Trifolium subterraneum
should be really drought resistant
see for example these video’s
micro clover as lawn replacement in a place where grass doesen’t survive/thrive.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Tx_n9rV_PU
Comparing different types of white clover (not the micro)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WV1EjZ5PNj4