Q.What Is Ideal To Have Under A Very Large, Spreading Canopy Of A Mature Messy Mesquite Tree For Ease Of Cleaning Its Pods?
Yearly my mesquite sheds pods and leaves that take me more than a month to clean up. I rake some as there is only hard-packed desert dirt under its canopy currently. What would be a more beneficial substance/ground cover to incorporate around this tree?

Certified GKH Gardening Expert
I think what you have makes it easier to clean up. Rocks or mulch would be worse. A ground cover might hide the pods if you wanted to leave them. You would have to add some better soil on top of the hard dirt for that.
Some people wrote in to a community site and said they used a leaf blower to blow the leaves and pods to a pile to pick up. Another said his leaf blower included a vacuum setting and he is able to vacuum up the pods and leaves. Another person said a yard rake with long, flexible metal tines worked well.
https://www.gardeningknowhow.com/ornamental/trees/mesquite/growing-mesquite-trees.htm
https://www.gardeningknowhow.com/ornamental/trees/mesquite/mesquite-tree-pruning.htm