English has a "habit" called End Weight. If possible, we like to put longer "heavier" phrases at the end of sentences. You see this, for example, in the way that English speaker will try to keep the subject of a sentence quite short, but may have long phrases after the verb.
Now suppose the direct object is "heavy". We might postpone it to after a short light prepositional phrase.
I contacted by email the department assistant who was processing my case.
It would not be ungrammatical to put "by email" at the end of the sentence, but by postponing the long direct object, you give it "end weight". However if the direct object is "light" (for example a pronoun, or a name) you would not postpone it.
I contacted John by email.
There is no real limit on the verb, eg "eat":
Leopold Bloom ate with relish the inner organs of beasts and fowls.