In the streets of solid semi-detached houses in Knowle West, there is a hidden horticultural world.

The gardens of this south Bristol housing estate – built in the 1930s to provide social housing for about 12,000 people – are the setting for a wealth of green-fingered talent.

However, it was only seen by householders and their neighbours until Tana Holmes set up an arts project called The Secret Gardens of Knowle West.

"To some people Knowle West has a bad name, but when I started working here about a year ago it was spring and lots of people were out in their gardens," says Tana, 31, who is Bristol City Council's neighbourhood arts officer for south Bristol.

"That was the Knowle West I could see, and I wanted to reflect that. Rather than dictating what art and creativity should be, I wanted to look at ways people were already being creative and then build on that."

The result has been a diverse range of images captured through the lens of photographer Amanda Harman. They include hanging baskets, a pink Wendy house, purple clematis, a bonsai garden, and a statue of a sleeping angel.

The photographs, taken in 16 gardens during the summer of 2008, provide a fresh insight into the Knowle West estate, in Filwood electoral ward, which is in the bottom 10 per cent of the Government's deprivation indices.

"I think the photos dispel the misguided view of some people that residents in Knowle West have these big back gardens they don't look after," says Tana.

"There are people in Knowle West who have amazing gardens. Some grow their own fruit and veg, and there are even people with their own chickens who are pretty self-sufficient. It's an almost rural way of life."

The pictures were taken by Amanda in favourite areas of gardens selected by residents, or taken by residents themselves with her guidance.

It was Tana who walked around the Daventry Road area of Knowle West knocking on doors to find people willing to have their gardens photographed.

"The estate has a reputation for being a place where people don't engage, but everyone I met was incredibly friendly and willing to show me their gardens even though they'd never met me before," she says.

The photographs were exhibited outside participants' houses initially, as part of Knowle West's first arts trail. They then formed the opening exhibition at Broadwalk Arts, a new arts space at Broadwalk Shopping Centre, and were recently exhibited at Knowle West Media Centre.

A 2009 calendar for the 6,500 residents of Knowle West was also created using the photographs, and delivered as a free Christmas gift with the December edition of the Knowle West magazine,The Knowledge.

"We're hoping to get funding to run another Secret Gardens of Knowle West this year, but this time with gardens of houses at the back of the media centre," says Tana of the project, which was funded by Bristol City Council Neighbourhood Arts and Knowle West Neighbourhood Management, and supported by Doveton Press.

The recent exhibition at Knowle West Media Centre featured the photographs with stories collected by Tana alongside them, quoting residents talking about their gardens. By way of example, Tana points to a close-up photograph of a pink petunia: "This was planted by a lady and her husband when her mother moved in," she says. "It never flowered when she was alive, but after she died it started to bloom."