Ants, Aphids , Mealy Bugs & Scale Insects

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I have a real problem with ants. Not that the ants themselves bother me in particular, but the ants absolutely infest everything with aphids, scale insects and mealy bugs. They keep bringing more of these insects to any plant that I manage to clear up. I had a passionfruit vine with white mealy bugs infesting it, and as fast as I was able to clear them off it, the ants kept bringing more! They KILLED the vine - they actually KILLED it! Same with a Comfrey plant I had growing in a pot - they KILLED it. Now I'm battling to clear scale insects of a little Dwarf Meyer Lemon tree I have growing in a pot - and again, as fast as I manage to scrape the things off of it, the ants keep bringing more to infest it. It's so bad that the poor little tree is starting to lose all its leaves! I know that ladybugs, lacewings and parasitic wasps are supposed to be the natural predators of these things - but I don't see any of them around the place. I have parsley and coriander growing to try to attract them - hasn't helped much so far. Can anyone suggest a NATURAL method to put a permanent stop to these damn things? I know killing off the ants would help, but it's difficult to do that without some serious poison, and I'm not inclined to use toxic chemicals around my plants. I also don't want to wipe out all the other useful critters around the place. But I need SOMETHING that will get rid of these monsters and do the job PROPERLY, instead of just bringing on the next wave of them!