Can you clarify what species you have? Areca is a genus of palm, but Dypsis lutescens are often called Areca palms. Cant answer question without knowing what you have.... any way you can show a photo?

Hey Palmbob, Thanks for reply. Yes it is the common available Dypsis lutescens. Please advise.

Where is the plant growing? Dypsis lutescens is not the easiest of the genus. Is it is good sun?..., exposure?..., duration?... What are your watering practices? What's the soil like? Temperature? How much bigger is the container? Are you feeding it anything? There are lots of conditions in which a palm will occasionally produced stunted or even deformed new growth. Could be anything from previous winter cold damage to the palm bud (with outdoor palms), to inadequate micronutrients. Often palms will grow out of this to produce normal growth over time. (with outdoor palms) have seen this on Phoenix (dates), Butia (Pindo) and others. (Key phrase is "over time", as palms are in no rush to catch up to our expectations.)

P.S., A picture would also be helpful.

'bushy' is a natural growth for this plant in a pot... you want it to grow differently you will probably need to plant it in the ground. This plant, as mentioned, is a very hard one to keep happy indoors (terrible indoor species, actually).

I bought an areca palm with really long leaves (abt 8 feet long). At first, it produced shorter leaves in its new environment, but now its back to long leaves. The keys in this case included regular use of fertilizer, transfer to a larger pot, frequent watering, high humidity, and distance from the winter damage.

I honestly have not found this palm to be all that difficult. Tips can dry out if near a heating duct. Otherwise it soon outgrows your house. Place outdoors for summer. Pups can be trimmed or broken off to encourage several larger main trunks.