Need advice on unique beginner tree situation

[houdini777]

I have no experience with bonsai and have no real bonsai trees but have watched many bonsai videos. This is the 1 of 2 bonsai-like tree i own, not looking for wiring/aesthetic advice rather growth/survival of tree advice. The tree is maybe 1-1.5 feet tall and is in NE USA where it is 20-30 F degrees. I purchased this japanese maple from walmart for 5$ on clearance in JULY of 2024, it had no leaves, the soil was bone dry when i bought it. I left it outside til octoberish but continued to water frequently and no new growth appeared, no green branch tips or anything. I thought about throwing the tree away because everyone thought it was dead and it looked kind of out of place on my front porch. I thought the tree might be dead but wanted to give it a chance so brought it inside to my indoor houseplant room. Sometime in November i wired the tree (for practice more than anything as i had watched many bonsai videos and was thinking i might get into the hobby). I believe i used iron wire to do this, which i know realize was not optimal wiring. I was shocked to see a week or so ago new growth happen overnight, primarily 2 new back bud branches, but many preexisting branches/side branches now have green tips that look like may produce new growth.

The concern i have is this tree's physiological clock is off. It was sent into a shock situation in the summer when it should have still been growing/stable in the summer due to lack of watering. I've grown attached to tree and want to give it the best chance, and motivated to seek out advice given the new growth. Gut instinct is leave tree inside until outside temp equalizes with house temp and put outside, but from reading may ultimately be better to hibernate tree now. However I have grown attached to the tree and am hesistant to do anything too extreme. On one hand im happy because the tree has new growth and life but on other hand it seems this is abnormal given the natural winter environment.

 

[Wires_Guy_wires]

However I have grown attached to the tree and am hesistant to do anything too extreme.

You took it out of dormancy by bringing it inside, I think this boat has sailed.
If you have a place where it's light and cool, like an unheated garage or a greenhouse, you might be able to get it to go dormant slowly.
Which is what I would prefer doing.

In essence you have two options:
1. Let it grow indoors until spring, hope for the best. The growth will be weak and might spend more energy than it can recover, emptying the fuel tank.
2. Let it go dormant again, hope for the best. The growth will stop and it might preserve more energy for next years growth, leaving some fuel in the tank for the future.

Either way it will need a summer or two to recover. The damage was mostly done by the nursery, so don't blame yourself for trying to save what is left.

 

[Shibui]

I have occasionally had JM shoot late in autumn, after ill timed pruning. Those trees retained leaves all through winter without any ill effects. They grew well through Spring and Summer and went dormant at the usual time so no lasting ill effects.
I'd probably let it try to keep growing indoors. Make sure there's plenty of light so it can photosynthesize and start to recover energy reserves.