Electric mowers are also pretty inexpensive. I have one Ryobi push mower that is a hybrid - it runs on either batteries or electric. I never use the electric cord, but the battery option works great for me. I have had much better luck with my battery/electric motors than my gas engines that gunk up over the winter.
One thing I like about small electric/battery mowers is that you can use them to chop up some compost if needed. Works great for chopping up some organic material into small bits that will compost much faster in the compost bin.. Having said that, now that I have chickens, I just throw everything organic into the chicken run and let the chickens tear it apart. They enjoy that type of work.
