Cedars from yard

[bronko]

Brand newbie here(zero exp.) I've recently become fascinated by bonsai, so of course I'm looking to dive in!
Instead of buying something I wanted to try to harvest a couple cedars from my yard. The very small ones, somewhere in between 6"-12" tall.
Any tips would help.
Specific questions I have are:
1) when(season) should I harvest the tree?
I live in Connecticut, US(Northeast).
2) should I replant in a pot with soils from the ground where it was?
2b) what soil should I use?
3) Should i immediately start "shaping"(wires) "pruning"(cutting) the tree, or wait until a certain season or time after harvesting?
4) what size pot?
5)Is a cedar even a good choice?

 

[WIlliam_Butler_Yeets]

1. you should generally wait until late winter to early spring to collect a wild tree, just before they start growing for spring

2. try to disturb the tree as little as possible, so you want to bring up as much of the intact rootball as you can, and as much of the original soil as you can

3. no, you wanna leave the tree completely alone and don't do anything except keep it healthy for a year after you dig it up to let it recover

4. pretty big, this goes along with trying to cause the tree as little stress as you can and wanting to give it room to adapt to being potted

5. yes cedrus species can be good for bonsai, you should figure what exact species you have and research those trees

 

[Desert O'Piñon]

I'm guessing what you have is Juniperus virginiana, commonly called Eastern red cedar. There are no Cedrus native to North America. Although not well-suited for bonsai material, they have potential to be good learning material. The advice from @WIlliam_Butler_Yeets is solid from my limited experience. Good luck, and welcome to the community!