I don't remember reading much about syntax and the "texture" of sentences, but it may be an interesting and helpful concept to present to students. Readers sense the syntactic texture of sentences unconsciously, just as we sense any other texture, but a KISS Approach can make many aspects of syntactic structure very easy to see and discuss.

Subordinate Clauses

      I begin my discussion of texture by asking students to explain the word, outside the context of grammar. I usually suggest that they use things in the room as examples, and they usually end up by noting that the window glass is "smooth," whereas the walls and the rug are "rough." They all agree on that. Then I ask them to explain what causes the difference between "smooth" and "rough." They find the question perplexing, and someone usually offers the idea that it is a difference in what the things are made of. It's a nice suggestion, but I point out that the walls could be sanded smooth without changing what they are made of. Eventually, they get around to surface structure, noting that "rough" things have perceptible bumps, whereas "smooth" things don't. On "rough" things, some parts of the surface are "higher" than others. The purpose of this rather drawn-out discussion is to convince them that they can all perceive -- and agree on -- the textures of things without ever thinking about what causes the differences in textures. 
      The same applies to the texture of sentences. Their instructors in other fields can all sense differences in the texture of students' writing without at all thinking about the syntactic differences that may cause those differences. Because my students are primarily working on clauses, we focus on some of the textural differences caused by clauses. We begin by looking at the meaning of "subordinate." Once again I ask them to explain what the word means, outside the context of grammar.