So many ants..

..about this year! I bought some Nematodes and felt a bit eco smug for a while until I realised they don't KILL the ants, they just move them!

Most of the time they're not much trouble, but they've really taken over my plum and mini cherry tree with their aphid farming.

I've tried vaseline on the trunks in previous years, but it didn't help the poor trees much, the ants still colonised them.

Any suggestions

 

There have been some ladybirds about, mating. Though they don't seem to be sticking to their own type We saw 2 ladybird larva yesterday, so they will hopefully eat some of the aphids that the ants are farming...you can see from the pics, they state of the leaves on my mini cherry tree.
The new leaves on both fruit trees are coming out scrunched up. Is that related?

 

Well I would just spray it, one spray with a good insecticide will probably work.
It's just my opinion but there is lots of money being made from so called green ways of getting rid of pests.
I agree some work, but most require more introductions during the growing season and the price can mount up, bearing in mind you need a different predator for each pest and you cant use sprays in the mean time for other pests.
Also usually the pest is pretty well at infestation stage before you buy them.
In you case you need two types of predator, one for ants and one for aphids.
Hope you have a good bank balance.

 

@RandyRos
You could try offering the ants an alternative to the aphids. Put a small container with some jam or sugar syrup in the lower branches. The idea is that the ants will use this as a food source and cease looking after the aphids; then the predators will be able to attack the aphids without the ants interfering. The ants may even remove the aphids for you.

 

Sticky grease bands should do the job. Make sure they're all the way round. I've actually not changed the ones round my apple tree for 3 years, but the ants still don't seem to want to come back. I had a massive problem with woolly aphids which the ants "farmed". The grease bands stopped the ants, and the aphids were then much more susceptible to blitzing with insecticide. The little sods still come back, but not too the extent now that they're a threat to the tree.

 

Thanks for the replies. I do plan to tackle the ant problem which is everywhere. I might use a Borax mixture. We have 6 cats and 2 dogs so I'll have to be careful, whatever I use. I have never seen/heard of sticky grease bands! I shall make sure I get some for next year.
Are the newly emerging scrunched up/curled leaves related or is that something else?

 

Grease bands you buy should be sticky, I think. It's not the same as Vaseline.

Many things can cause leaves to curl, but aphids are a common one. Especially if you've got lots of ants.