That grass sure looks dead to me, which is an unfortunate waste of money and sod. Dormant grass is generally tan,yellow, or an off green color. Gray grass is generally dead. I suppose an extreme case of gray snow mold could make grass look like that, but if it pulls up very easily like in your pic, then it's probably dead. The fact that you can actually make out the edges makes me wonder when this sod was laid, and if it was ever healthy. While it may be 15 C (59 F) where you live, turfgrass is more responsive to soil temperatures. If your nights are freezing, then your soil may not be warm enough to end dormancy, but again, this doesn't look like dormant grass to me. Seed needs to be in contact with soil, not on top of dead grass. A power rake might be enough to break up the dead sod, but if it doesn't, you might have to remove it. The best time to seed a cool season grass is late summer/early fall. Grasses seeded at this time have ideal soil temps for germination, warm days and cool dry nights, no heat stress, and little weed and disease pressure. Spring seeded turf has lower soil temps, so germination takes longer, weed pressure, and stress from summer. Being in Canada however might mitigate some of these stresses, but you should wait till soil temps get to about 55 degrees minimum, 60 would be better. I would use Kentucky bluegrass for sunny areas and/or fine fescues for shady ones where you live. Tall fescue and perennial rye might have issues with cold kill, although I am not that familiar with your climate. Most mixes in big box stores contain perennial rye for quick germination, but often this means people don't water enough for the other grasses to germinate and establish, and the perennial rye becomes the dominant species.

Coolingfish, the summer of 2008 was wet and average as far as temperatures. We only saw 2 100 degree days and not too many 90's. The heat that year did not take Fescue out, the excessive rainfall did, however. Bermuda is not the best adapted grass in the Raleigh metro area, Fescue/Bluegrass is. But, if you like your current lawn and don't mind the 6 months of brown, then more power to you. Bermuda can make a nice lawn, the hybrids mostly, but when highly maintained. Mowing at 1 to 1 1/2 inches max. and every 3 to 4 days, then slow release fertilizer every 30 days, and 1 inch of water per week to keep it green during the summer months. The pictures of you lawn look good, I don't see too many weeds and looks dense for the most part. Good job, keep the pictures comming. BTW, I'm in Cary, just off of Harrison Ave and I-40.

Yes, it does look bad during the winter. It probably is a type 2 which blooms best on old wood. If you cut it back now you will loose all the spring blooms. You can tidy it up a bit. You can crupple all the dead leaves and get rid of those. The new growth should be coming out soon and then it will look lush and green again, and the blooms will follow shortly.

YOU NEVER NEED TO TILL. Oh, sorry was I shouting? You never need to till in preparation for grass. I'm short of time here at lunch so I'll just drop that and leave it without explanation. Don't let the bobcat guy on your lawn. If he can come up with a real tractor, then fine, but bobcats take 10 times longer to do the grading job as a tractor with a box blade. A tractor can do that job in 15 minutes to an hour. A bobcat might take a week. It would be best if you could rake the dead stuff up. You want good contact between the bottom of the sod and the top of the soil. Roots will not grow through the air looking for soil. Gotta run, but I have more to say. If you want to ask more questions, go for it.