Wych Elm in hedgerow

Hi All... new member here, and new to gardening so hoping someone can help. I have a hedgerow at the front of my house made-up primarily of holly. Over the last couple of years I've noticed that in seperate places, its been taken over by some long branches, now identified as Wych Elm, which appeared to be growing through the hedge. This year i have discovered these are attached to a small trunk which has now grown to the height of the original holly hedge. they are obviously establishing themselves as trees. I do not believe they were there when i bought the house five years ago and they do not look like they have been planted to be part of the hedgerow. The wych elm is very active in growth and due to the height of the branches, tower over and spoil the look hedge. My question is... can i cut these trunks down to ground level to develop the which elm as part of the hedge or should i remove them?

 

Not much elm about these days, have you got a picture.

 

i used an app to identify the leaf... someone also said it could be hazel...

 

I dont think it is Elm, off the top of my head I would say Beech but I'm not sure.
Hazel is more likely than Elm.

@Silver surfer .

 

Wych Elm is rough on top of the leaves compared to Hazel.

Easy enough to find a Hazel for comparison at the moment as they're covered in unripe nuts if the bushes are mature enough.

I've just popped out into the garden for some Hazel leaf stroking/photography, and many of the leaves have had Ladybird larvae on them.

 

I hate these kinds of leaf shape they could just about be anything to me.
I think if you can actually touch and feel and get a more overall look at the plant it becomes slightly more apparent.

 

Thanks for the input so far... i think my main question is what can i do with them.. Is it easy to make them part of the existing hedge? Can i cut them to ground level and see if they grow into a manageable shape or will the main trunk just continue to grow through over time, in which case should i just remove them?

 

You can see from the is picture the height of the branches growing out and i have circled the top of the trunk where i have already cut away branches. My thinking is, in their current format they will continue to grow through the hedge and cause the same problem every year, however if i remove the ones i don't want and cut some down to ground level and keep on pruning them I'm wondering if that will reduce height and fill them out. This could be useful as in one place the hedge is thin and one of these has grown there. Does sound like a viable option?

 

Thanks for all your help folks... really appreciate it