I'll give the chicken wire a shot with the down pipes. Good call!
I'm always suprised how much crap builds up in such a short space of time...leaves, pine needles, small sticks, the neighbor kid's frisbees.

The again, the trees across the street are ~130 feet tall, and the wind ALWAYS blows east towards our house, so this time of year it's literally snowing pine needles, little sticks, etc.