In this paper, we consider connected locally finite graphs $${\mathscr {G}}$$ that possess the Cheeger isoperimetric property. We investigate the Hardy spaces $$H_{{\mathscr {R}}}^1({\mathscr {G}})$$ , $${H_{{\mathscr {H}}}}^{1}({\mathscr {G}})$$ and $$H_{{\mathscr {P}}}^1({\mathscr {G}})$$ , defined in terms of the Riesz transform, the heat and the Poisson maximal operator on $${\mathscr {G}}$$ , respectively. Quite surprisingly, we prove that contrary to what happens in the Euclidean case, these three spaces are distinct. In addition, we prove that if $${\mathscr {G}}$$ is an homogeneous tree, then $$H_{{\mathscr {R}}}^1({\mathscr {G}})$$ does not admit an atomic decomposition. Applications to the boundedness of the purely imaginary powers of the nearest neighbour Laplacian and of the associated Riesz transform are given.