Heterogeneous hydraulic properties of a soil profile were formulated as a discrete hierarchy of three subunits. (1) The spatial distribution of characteristic pore-geometry lengths, (2) reference hydraulic functions for individual soil horizons and (3) a soil profile scale drainage network. The combination of the first two subunits were defined as the primary structure of the soil and the drainage network as the secondary structure. The drainage network was derived and parameterized from a soil-profile scale connectivity pattern of macroscopic hydraulic properties (Deurer et al. 2003). Using numerical simulations we explored the impact of such scale-dependent hierarchical hydraulic properties on water and solute flow. Several experimentally observed features of preferential solute transport were qualitatively reproduced, such as: a distribution zone for water and solutes in the topsoil, large areas bypassed by water flow, and an early arrival and long tailing of solutes near the bottom of the soil profile. The water flux variability was governed by the secondary structure in the topsoil and by the primary structure in the subsoil. The dispersion of solutes was strongly enhanced by the drainage network, but was also a function of the interaction between primary and secondary structures during transport. We will explain the modeling concept and show its consequences for solute transport.