Gill and Gregory have this to say about Delaford:

"Mrs Jennings evokes the charms of Delaford at the point when Marianne is devastated by Willoughby's rejection....Nature and art blend well; the grounds are cultivated but, on the strength of 'old-fashioned', it seems unlikely that the gardens are laid out merely to satisfy whims or provide views.

The implicit contrast is with Norland under John and Fanny Dashwood. Nothing at Delaford suggests that work on the estate disrupts the life of the surrounding countryside or is detrimental to the feeling of history that the estate exudes. 'Old-fashioned' has quite the precise meaning when applied to country estates; it means unimproved. That is to say, it has escaped the efforts of landscape gardeners to impose a smoothness upon the grounds....The contrast between Norland and Delaford is important for the moral and political vision of the book, because Jane Austen favours continuity, stability and traditional."