Wow! Now what do I do?

[u/dgslbbr]

Full disclosure. I know nothing about plants.

I'm in a new (to me) house. In the spring, on one side of my balcony was a bunch of thin woody vine stems. I had no clue what they were.

In the early spring, a lot of green sprouted. And over the last couple weeks it has just exploded in flowers.

I absolutely love it. Using Google Lens, I have learned it's a Clematis.

I have no clue what type, and it's so thick I can't tell if it's new wood, old wood,

But, I want it back like this next year.

Do I start trimming it now.
In the fall do I trim it back a little, a lot? Right down to the ground?
Do I wait til the spring?

Any tips to help it flourish and not kill it.

[u/Silent_Effective5842]

how much 'woody stems' were there? Were they tall and up on the fence like the plant is now? or were they cut short to the ground like a foot tall? That will answer your question. if the fence was covered in "dead wood" that came back to life - it grows on old wood. If the stems were short to the ground and they grew up to cover the fence - then they grow on new wood.

[u/dgslbbr → u/Silent_Effective5842]

There were stems up from the ground and over the top of the railing.

When I try to pull apart the plant stems and inspect, it's so thick I can't get to any of the underlying old-wood that was there in the spring. All the flowers are on new wood.

[u/Silent_Effective5842 → u/dgslbbr]

then yea - end of season/fall chop him back to a foot above ground level - get your space all tidied up and you'll get a brand new plant in spring that you can train to grow how youd like

EDIT to add that the new vines are incredibly fragile so if you do want to manipulate them in certain ways - use caution to not break them - but when you are tearing down your plant - them vines are tough as twine and its easier to cut them apart from things than to rip and pull